> I've never done this and have never understood why people think it's so important. I prefer to build stuff for paying customers. They're never bashful and are

> I've never done this and have never understood why people think it's so important. I prefer to build stuff for paying customers. They're never bashful and are a great way to get really good really quickly. I'm not sure if you mean in a startup context or a freelancing, but both have some degree of urgency that don't promote writing great code and developing new skills. It's very tempting to stick with what you know because you're out of time and don't want to take a chance on something new. That said, it's also easy to fall into the trap of never releasing anything so I prefer a mixture of both.