Straight up, you need to be good, lucky, tenacious, and driven. There are many good opensource devs out there that have to work in corporate jobs. You might be cut from the right cloth, who knows, but it isn't going to be a cake walk.

There's definitely no shame in going another route and making money doing something else you like. Trade jobs are an option of course and probably well paid too. Unless you're 60 or older, it's not too late to switch.

Honestly though, I'd give it a shot first before quitting altogether. Try and follow your dreams so that at least you will know what it's like.

Anti Commercial-AI license