Yes, I'm still programming for fun by doing pets, and I always try to get some fun from my payable work. It's the only way to move on being a programmer, as I think.
I'm afraid there is nothing public we can trust in today's world. We see how big companies are just throwing away their users and data. So, watch to pass (CLI password manager) or KeePassXC as they sync nothing but store local, which means they can't beat you.
Looks good! Consider adding instructions to install it with https://github.com/pypa/pipx to not scare people not familiar with python dependency management.
Hmm, try to combine your OpenSource with your work. Ask your boss to make something for OpenSource as peace of your regular job. Try to sell him OpenSource. It should be something small in the beginning. After some time, you'll be working on projects more and more, and it will become a regular part of your paid job.
It's hard to say, and it depends on who you are. I believe that links to your work are better than some marketing slogans. I mean something like:
- Creator of example.com
- Invented MyFramework framework https://github.com/user/myframework
- Blogger at https://medium.com/user
etc.
I'm sure you are wrong -- you'll not be less attractive, moreover, I think you'll be more attractive because you'll have had both working experiences: small and big companies. As for me I'm definitely not receiving fewer job offers now, after the jump.
Just use "offline" tools like httpie. Pretty good interface. My experience suggests that a relatively small number of engineers need to work with more than 5-10 requests at a time. So you can just store commands in some text file or just using shell history search.
When I was faced with the same choice, I just had thought that I just need to try to compare. There are plenty of big companies with great salaries, so I could always come back.