With the deepening economic slowdown enterprises have started looking hard at optimizing their IT budgets, in some cases even resorting to free and Open Source solutions and softwares to address to their needs. The adoption of Open Source in enterprises will automatically imply a need for employees having familiarity with Open Source technologies. Here we look at what all opportunities that you can look at to start a career in the Open Source domain
Today, many applications are being developed in the Open Source environment and are gaining wider acceptance. Open Source is no longer synonymous to Linux and Java, but has matured to several middle-ware, ERP, BI and other enterprise applications. A recent survey by Gartner suggests an increasing role for Open Source as part of business strategies in the coming years. Numerous developers from around the world are contributing to Open Source software and the ratio of contributing developers is witnessing a higher growth. Sun Microsystems, Google, SourceForge, Apache and many other organizations have several Open Source projects hosted and supported by them. It's not only the developer community that has been actively collaborating to build Open Source solutions all the while, but even enterprises are showing interest in the business viability of Open Source solutions. Hearing all the buzz about the Open Source model and its adoption by organizations, and looking at the number of organizations that are initiating their own Open Source projects, one is tempted to wonder how to make a career in this wide arena.
How to start a career in Open Source
Open Source is a wide domain and there isn't any fixed path that one can tread to make a career. There are two ways in which one can kick-start a career in Open Source technologies. The first will pay you while the second will cost you. You can get trained in one of the Open Source technologies and subsequently be hired by an enterprise where it is used. The other way encompasses the true essence of the Open Source, of not just being a user but a contributor. Contributing to Open Source doesn't pay you unless you are working for an organization that distributes under the BSD license, like Red Hat or Sun. Contributing to Open Source doesn't cost you a dime, but you need to devote time and effort, and this pays you in form of recognition in the Open Source arena.
Not everyone is lucky enough to get hired by an IT enterprise where he or she could get involved in a high-profile project of their interest that would also help them in career growth. In fact, people with the necessary skills and knowledge strive hard but are not able to get the work or project where their interest lies. Open Source on the other hand, gives you that opportunity where you can choose the project of your choice; the project that matches your skills and also your area of interest. Open Source projects are typically created as collaborative efforts where programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. The kind of contribution you make for an Open Source project is visible and can land you job offers from enterprises that want pros in that domain. Certifications do acknowledge your skills and are generally accepted by the industry, but your work for an Open Source project is visible and gives instant proof of your knowledge to a prospective employer.
(Adapted from various sources from the internet)
