> I feel used when companies or people use my work and profit from it. Is that Open Source GPL/MIT? You define the license. > The worse is when they advertise

> I feel used when companies or people use my work and profit from it. Is that Open Source GPL/MIT? You define the license. > The worse is when they advertise that they did it. Why do you care? > I get 0 pay, and ironically I sometimes have to travel to THEM on my own expense? Yikes I feel so dumb. I don't get it. You traveled to some company at your own expense to solve a problem to them? > I'm still in my twenties, but I feel like this can't go on forever. Does anyone have any suggestions what I should do? Define your friends. You'll likely find out you have 1-3 actual friends and the rest are just people you happen to know. Also define the members of your family you are obligated/responsible to help. For everybody else, just ignore the requests and they'll stop asking. > Like I don't wanna reject them, but if I can somewhow ask them to pay that would be great. Don't ask "friends" to pay. They don't have the budget. Do ask companies to pay beforehand; however. Don't worry, if they do actually need you; they'll fork the cash.