u/rosiebeir wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
As a recent Codesmith grad (PTRI '22), I feel like I can offer a more balanced perspective.. You can tell from my account and comment/post history that I'm not a "Codesmith bot" or whatever. It's definitely strange to me that they have those and it's kinda icky but oh well. Fi
u/michaelnovati replied · ★ FEATURED
Thanks for sharing a balanced view. +1 that the heart is in the right place, and that's important to note.
I comment this often but people don't read everything and adding for consistency, but in the industry, many "open source" projects are PAID. Almost all of the large open source projects are maintained by people who work at top companies as their day job and the company is paying them to support the project.
So saying something is "open source" does not mean it was unpaid work and saying you were a "Software Engineer at X (Open Source)" doesn't properly represent that it was a 4 week project with code reviewed from previous students.
This is my opinion, I understand and respect people who feel differently but just adding because I think it's an important perspective that people don't often hear (except from me lol)
Another note but "Codesmith has literally changed the lives" is something I hear very often and is a bit concerning. I firmly believe it's true, but it's also something I heard from people at NXVISM and in a lot of cult documentaries. I'm not saying it's not valid and I love that Codesmith changed your life and set you on a great track now! It's just something that can be dangerous to someone in a bad place who desperately needs a change and see that phrase as an out.
RE: Eric, people have sent me text messages from him and I want him to apologize for telling people I'm 'a dark and disturbed individual who lives on Reddit with the sole purpose of taking down the great thing they built'. I don't hold grudges, I would love to have dinner and learn more about his journey, I just don't think that that's cool and mature.