That's not true (regarding coffeescript), you could always used JavaScript for the front-end, they just installed coffeescript compiler as a default at some point. And there are not SO MANY directories, you actually care about like 3, maybe 4 ;-) (app, db, config, lib)
There was one, (literally: ONE) time I check out somebody's GitHub profile when making a hiring decision. It was a clusterfuck of forks, and source repos were a total mess, no documentation, nothing. In such case I would rather NOT see a GitHub link like that, really. He didn't get a job.
I have this cooking website I started some time ago (http://cookarr.com), and apart from that I have some smaller projects, but I also say "No, I don't have side projects except of these, I don't have to do open source, I just... don't". It never did sabotage my interview though, because I am a specific kind of full-stack developer (good at prototyping and whipping up complete "MVP production apps" in a short time), and it's somehow valuable to many startups.
City navigation + smartwatch is much better for me with Apple Maps than it was ever with Google and Android Wear :-) I switched entirely to Apple Maps lately, car navigation is flawless as well :-)
All dangerous propaganda should be stopped, but mark this day as the start of a new era, the "Echo-chamber-Internet", censored by whoever shouts the loudest.
I have a cooking/recipes website http://cookarr.com — it doesn't make any money, and I didn't even want to put advertisements there, because it's my stress-reducing project :-) And kind of a recipe book I made for myself (and others)
I came up with my own schema for recipes for CookArr.com :-) but in the long run, making the recipes is more interesting for me, than scraping them off other websites :-)
Uh oh, but the non-compete clause is for an industry, e.g. You can't go from BMW to Audi, or from SoundCloud to Apple Music ;-) It doesn't mean you can't work for anybody for a year, LOL :D That one would be 100% illegal, nobody can force you to be unemployed for a year :-D
Employer is entitled to recompensation if the employee does that (cancel just before starting), unless there's a clause in the contract, so it apparently works both ways.
Last time I was hiring an iOS dev, we had a cool 2 hour pairing session (it was supposed to be 1 hour, but time flies when you're having fun), doing something really simple in the scope of the project. He shown how he works, and tackles problems, answered some questions, got hired. You really can hire in a humane way, you just need to want it.
Who gives a fudge about "CTO having a bad time"? It was their duty to actually keep head above the water, and maybe... not hire people knowing the shit is going to hit the fan? Unless the CTO didn't know, then it's a completely different level of indolence, and the company is going down, super hard, super fast.
> The challenge wasn’t trivial and I spent the whole weekend working on it (~20hours)
For this shit alone they should be burned to the ground. Why do recruiters do these silly "homeworks"? Every time I hear this during a recruitment I'm like "ooooh, so you just do a mass-casting, and see who's the most desperate?". Nope, nope, nope...
http://cookarr.com was supposed to get donations/patreon but I decided to keep is as my private hobby site for some time. Still figuring out if I should monetize things like nutritional information or go into the cooking assistant direction.
Https://Storage.cubitoo.com – my little tool to manage clutter at home and at the office. Somehow I chickened down to actually take the dip and open the commpany,maybe I will run it for free some time.
My dad used to say: "Son, when assessing the company's health, look for two things: coffee, and toilet paper. If the coffee is not refilled, it means nobody cares, and the company soon will start having serious trouble. If the toilet paper is not refilled, it means there's no money whatsoever, and you should nope out". Worked for me ever since.