I'm a technology nomad. We changed camels for high powered, fossil fuel burning
jets. I'm working from any place that has internet connection which is
typically within hundreds of meters from any physical location I happen to
be at. I create open source software that brings value to various people,
using mostly loose change and scraps from large corporations for a living.
It's not that much value, after all, who uses PyPy, but the important part
is the sign - it's a small, albeit positive change in the open source ecosystem
that in turn makes it cheaper to create software stacks which ends up in
young companies trying to make a dent in the universe. I'm a plumber fixing
your pipes, one of the many.
And I need a visa for that. I want to have a stamp in my passport that will
state all of the above and provide few clues as to what it actually means:
- I will not stay in your country for very long.
- The exact place does not matter at all to me - it's all one big internet.
- I'll not seek employment at McDonalds and I have a pretty good track record,
go read my bitbucket contributions. - Open Source is software you run into everyday - and this is also because
of people like me.
And yet I'm failing. People running immigration are so detached from my reality
we don't even send postcards to each other. Every single border officer is
suspicious and completely confused as to why and how I do all of that.
How can we change it? How can we end the madness of pointless paperwork?
Cheers,
fijal
