Hacktoberfest is supposed to be about celebrating open source.
Instead, it has turned into a flood of spammy PRs, empty files, and “pls merge” requests.
It wasn’t just embarrassing - it was eye-opening.
The JEE-ification of Tech Culture
Somewhere along the way, Indian tech education adopted the same mindset that dominates competitive exams:
marks > mastery, results > reasoning, badges > building.
We’ve built a system that values certificates over skills, GitHub squares over systems thinking, and LinkedIn clout over long-term learning.
It’s no longer about understanding, it’s about appearing active.
When colleges, clubs, and YouTube channels push “make 6 PRs = free T-shirt,” the result is predictable - a wave of students contributing nonsense to open source projects just to farm metrics.
The Harsh Truth
And let’s be honest most of these “devs” are 18+.
At this age, you have access to everything: free documentation, open courses, global mentors, and AI tutors.
If you still choose to spam instead of learn, that’s not a system failure - that’s a you failure.
No one can save you if you refuse to think for yourself.
The system may have trained you to chase numbers, but you’re the one deciding to stay shallow.
The Coming Obsolescence
AI is evolving faster than ever.
Surface-level skills - copy-paste coding, syntax recall, or tutorial-level web apps - are already being automated.
If you don’t understand how systems work, if you can’t solve real problems, you’ll be replaced - not by another human, but by a machine.
We’re not producing engineers anymore; we’re mass-producing resume coders.
The Relief
But strangely, this realization gives me peace.
Because now I see that 95–99% of the competition is bad competition.
People optimizing for the wrong things - chasing visibility over value, validation over growth.
And that means one thing:
When I build real skills, when I focus on depth over decoration, and when I create actual impact,
I’ll stand out effortlessly.
Because genuine skill will always find its place — whether it’s 2025 or 2030.
The Way Forward
Open source, AI, and the cloud aren’t badges - they’re crafts.
The future belongs to those who build, question, and learn deeply.
The ones who read the docs, break systems, and fix them again.
Real engineers won’t be replaced by AI.
Only the JEE-fied ones will.
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