I wrapped up my first corporate internship recently. I worked as a software engineering intern at a hardware cryptocurrency wallet company.
It was okay. I learned a lot and the people were genuinely nice. But working in a closed, corporate environment felt… weird. Everything is planned, scoped, reviewed, and filtered so much that sometimes the fun just leaks out.
I also learned that I can work really well under pressure, although I do not like working under immense pressure personally.
I realized I really miss libre software. I miss building things in public, pushing code without asking ten people first, and caring more about why something is built than whether it fits a roadmap.
I missed writing code that anyone could read, fork, or improve without asking for permission. I missed the quiet radicalism of libre software - the idea that knowledge should not be locked behind NDAs and closed repos.
This didn’t make me hate jobs or companies. It just made me realize I do not prefer working working away from open source. I like messy projects, open repos, and software that feels a little alive.
Maybe I’ll grow out of this take.
Right now, this is where my head’s at.