RESUMEN

Open source software development efforts offer us professionals a new and valuable way to obtain significant experience in a wide range of areas as an alternative to existing certification schemes. Participation in open source projects can make us better programmers by exposing us to maintenance, new technologies, and different application domains, and make us better system administrators by forcing us to tinker with complex system setups. We can also improve our management skills as we observe and later improve the process of large, complex projects. In the end, the experience we gain from open source development can also be rewarded in the marketplace through better employment opportunities.