You can actually earn money by programming for AROS. The term for this is bounties. This is where Team AROS comes in. Features and applications that need implemented into AROS are posted. People can donate money to the bounty they would like to see implemented. After a developer completes the project, the bounty money is paid to him.

There is a link to Team AROS in the right navigation of this site. They list all the bounties that are opened, assigned, completed and cancelled.