Hi all

I’ve been working as a software developer for the past few years and frequently decided to leave a company/project myself because I could not find the motivation to keep working for it.

First, I was questioning whether software development was really for me. But in my spare time, I still enjoyed writing small useful tools, configuring my linux desktop and self-hosting.

I recently realised that my demotivation is mostly due to the kind of software I was working on for the companies I worked for. Usually building APIs to facilitate sales/marketing for products I don’t really care for. Or configuring some unnecessarily complicated ERP/CRM microsoft stack.

Instead, I would like to work on software that I use myself. Or at least on something that will useful for other people in the future, not just boost the sales of some company.

But I’m not sure where to look. It seems like jobs focusing on free/libre software are difficult to find (Or I don’t know how to look) and the few I find seem to be looking for senior profiles much more experienced than me.

Anybody have some tips or places I can start looking? Honesly I would prefer to just contribute to some project for free, but I don’t really have the option to do so at the moment.

Thanks!

  • Ptsf@lemmy.world
    4·
    28 days ago

    I’ve seen a lot of people do it and publish YouTube videos of their coding. Generally they attach a patreon/etc to the channel and let their viewers take a vote towards what they’d like to see worked on from a list of options. That’d allow you to make awesome software for people to actually use and receive near real-time community feedback, as long as you’re up to the spotlight.

    • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
      2·
      28 days ago

      I did this during the pandemic! Made like $20 (one person) after a year.

      It wasn’t about the money. But more about doing something consistent and building a tiny community. We’re friends on discord now.

    • NationProtons@sh.itjust.worksOP
      2·
      28 days ago

      I think it would be really nice to do this actually. But I’m not convinced I could support myself in this way. Kudos to those that can though.