It wasn't about the code: Hacktoberfest, AI, and the value of the journey itself

This year, Hacktoberfest organizers decided to stop counting pull requests in response to the rise of AI agents capable of generating code in seconds. This shift prompts the developer community to ask: what have we actually valued in open-source projects all this time? The author reflects on the transformation of the development process in the era of automation and highlights two key aspects that remain human-centric and cannot be fully replaced by artificial intelligence. This personal essay encourages a rethink of the value of human participation, learning, and collaboration in software creation, as the code itself is no longer the sole metric of success. The article, available on Habr, provides a detailed analysis of how the programmer's role is evolving amidst the rapid development of generative technologies.