[davemello]

Omni, I did change the title on one of my four points from 'Work for free.' to 'Intern/volunteer', as that was my original intention. I used the phrase 'work for free' to make a point - that when you start out, gaining the best experience often does not go hand-in-hand with a big pay-check. I also added a couple of sentences to reinforce that point. Sorry - I didn't think of that as responding to criticism, but rather clarifying my poor choice of words. The feedback posted here showed that I was unclear on that.

I appreciate everyone's feedback here. This is my first post on Hacker News, and I didn't expect this kind of response.

I realize that the idea of not valuing one's own time can be dangerous, and lead to a bad dynamic down the road. This is especially true for freelancers. That said, I stand by the point. For a student or beginner, the idea of getting involved with real-world communities, whether its a company you respect, an open-source project you support, or even a non-profit that you believe in, can be very valuable. Sometimes the best way to get involved with these groups, particularly if you have little to offer on paper, is to be creative with how you can help them, knowing that your biggest reward for the contribution will be the experience you gain. I don't see this as being unfair to yourself at all, nor do I see it as selling yourself short.

[omni]

Sorry for coming across as a jerk. This is just my opinion, but I highly prefer striking-through the original content if you need to make meaningful changes to an article after its publication. Good on you for the post and your reasoned responses to the comments here.