"Contributing" versus "having contributions", I suppose.

Lots of advice new-ish engineers implies that just having a Github profile with OSS work will improve prospects, when in reality most people I've seen admit that they don't even check Github profiles for applicants.

As far as the act of contributing turning into discussions, connections, and jobs, that's far more plausible. But I think it's a mistake to imply that merely having that work will provide visibility and opportunities. When people are getting offers passively on the strength of their past OSS work, they're more likely people who wrote popular libraries or led projects than just names on a contributor list.