What's the most effective way to mention open source work on resumes? I generally mix it in with other non-school- or -work-related stuff in a "projects" section, but is there a smarter way to emphasize it?
If you've got a lot of it, make it its own section. If you don't, but you think it's significant work experience, I'd put it under 'work experience'.
Last time I wrote a resume, I didn't have enough that I felt it was significant, so it went down as a relevant hobby, just like volunteering at the computer shop in and winning awards for computer knowledge high school.
For code, the best way is a URL to the bug tracker or commit log which shows all of your contributions. Use bit.ly if need be. A surprising number of people will list projects they've barely contributed to, using languages they barely know.
If you have 2 or 3 projects to list, an "Open Source Contributions" section is fine with me. The main thing to avoid is fancy formatting. How you divide things up into sections is not a big deal.
I like this article because I got my job this way. :)
