[jpadkins]

I think when facing a choice of 'doing nothing' vs. working on an open source project or unpaid internship, a college student should choose the free exposure and experience. Sure, if you can get a paid internship or work in your field, do that. But if you haven't yet, free exposure and experience is a great way to do something positive.

[traviswingo]

Good point here and I'd have to agree with you. Sure, the unpaid route isn't ideal, but then again neither is an internship in general. The whole point of an internship is to gain experience/see if you're a fit for working at the company full-time. Now, in the tech world, I fully understand unpaid internships at brand new companies with absolutely no money. What I don't understand is unpaid internships at PayPal. That's where I draw the line. But yes, when it comes to either working for free or doing nothing, most (rational) students will choose to work for free.