How one can have a career in Open Source?

From my point of view it's very unlikely to make a full time living creating "free" software... if it's open source then how are you going to make a profit from it? You could make open source software and then make software with a price tag. Anyways, correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Open source is really free so it would be hard to make a living doing that. If you're truly an enthuiast, you go over to the different forums on Linux or Ubuntu and see about contributing to the ongoing projects they have. In the mean time to make money, you could always dive into developing apps for the different technologies out there and submit them to the app stores.

Something you also could think about is maybe try networking with Open-source software. A lot of servers that run today run on Apache or another version of linux. For all I know that's the only thing you really can make a living of.

Many companies that operate open source projects pay their developers to ensure that the project is steadily updated. Just look at Google.

Or..... you could just put advertising on the download page, so long as your software pulls in the traffic and the ads are relevent you should get a half decent income

I think it's an opportunity to 'prove' that you are capable of doing something. For instance build Wikipedia, or any kind of open source project no matter how small. It may generate profit eventually, whether by means of donations or job opportunities. You never know!

That is really a tough questions, you should consult a professional, otherwise your just tumbling over the idea...

Nobody on these boards would spend the hours necessary to train you, nor could they on a forum board.

Opportunities in open source will, to a large extent, be in Support. Support for installation and maintenance of OSs and stand-alone and web-based applications. More importantly, like @Mitte says, support for Server and Network installation, administration and maintenance.

I see a time when open source will be used, not only by the technically inclined, but also seriously evaluated based on customer requirements.

@Sandeep, if you can get skilled in developing web-based software and offer this as a SaaS (Software-as-Service; pay-per-use) model, the revenue will come. As long as, like any other product or service, it serves customers well.

And, of course, training!

You're questions vague. If you mean create it you have two options:

• You could find employment with a for-profit corporation that uses open source software as the basis for its own software/business and thus contributes to its codebase. Examples include Apple(webkit, darwin llvm, bonjour), Google(android, chrome, go), Oracle(java, mySql), Redhat(redhat linux), Canonical(ubuntu linux), and Novell(mono, suse linux).

• You could work for one of the non-profit organizations that manage an open source project. sometimes some of the bigger ones will hire payed developers. Examples of these include the Mozilla Foundation(firefox), and the Gnome Foundation.(gnome desktop)