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Comment by jargon | Hacker News Reader

The value of a printer is easy to understand. The value of a programmer with no portfolio is not.

Is your argument that he ought to charge nothing because it's too hard to figure out what he's worth? If you're not willing to sort out what you're worth, you're dead in the water from the outset. Don't work for free. It's almost always a disastrous set-up. Your client doesn't have skin in the game. There's an emotional investment that comes with paying for something. It's a demonstration of VALUE. No payment, no value. It's pretty close to that simple.

That is one way to look at it.

Another way would be to create a portfolio. Spend $25/mo or whatever on a web server, build some web apps and put them online for people to see.

Don't work for free.

How do you feel about working on open source projects for free?

I think working on open source projects for free is different. There usually isn't really a client.. for a lot of people who work on open source projects, the client is themselves.. so in a sense, they're not working for free.. they're putting in effort, and getting a return. That said, some of the "Don't work for free" challenges still hold.. like motivation. For many people, it helps to have money on the table, and a timeline committed to. Loads of open source projects fall down because interest and motivation wax and wane. It's helpful to have an outside force keep you moving forward, and someone else's money is a big outside force.

Working on OSS "for free" is different than working for some guy's startup without pay. At least with OSS, you can usually find a link to the commits you contributed, provide an explanation of how you solved that particular problem and why, and stick it in a portfolio.

You can't do that with proprietary software that may or may not even be running in a year from now.

Startups can open their source as well.

It makes sense for various tools which we can't guarantee will be supported if the business doesn't survive. I'm much more likely to work with and contribute to code I know will be around independent of a business.

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