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When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

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Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#21
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But those that have fun writing code usually do, or have done so at some point. It's some kind of filter, that's true, and there isn't any filter that's always fair.

That used to be the case two years ago. Why would I release my software on github for free, when I can release it on Google market for money?

I would think the both to be almost same as long as you can tie your name to the App/Software you deployed in Google Market. In one scenario I get to see actual code and in the other a final product that has been deployed to the market. Both, having being done as a side project should be considered equal

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#22
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, I work on a lot of proprietary stuff as well, but even if Github didn't exist, we'd both be subject to the same "unfairness." Here's a job interview, circa 1981: Candidate 1: "I brought this fanfold printout of the source code for _____ I wrote with me, have a look. Candidate 2: "I can't show you any of the code, but trust me, it's good." Github merely drags that conversation forward from 1981 up to 2011. When…

Isn't this part of the reason for references, but more importantly: probation period ?

references are useless, companies are very wary to give bad references due to the chance of a lawsuit, and a probation period is a massive cost to the company

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#23
post #4

This puts developers in companies that commit to open source projects like Chromium to be at a significant advantage to those developing proprietary software. I understand where the author is coming from, but this is unfair for those who work on closed-source projects. Of course I have my own personal projects, but for most of them, I am not about release their source.

Not only that, but it puts those that contribute to other repos at a disadvantage. Additionally, it puts Windows devs at a disadvantage as Git is simply not as usable as Mercurial/SVN or heaven forbid, even TFS, on Windows.

That's not necessarily true. I prefer Mercurial over Git but I prefer GitHub over Bitbucket/Google Code. That's why the fine folks over at GitHub implemented their hg-git plugin which allows Mercurial to interact with Git repositories. That means I get to keep on using my preferred tool together with my preferred site, progress! \o/

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#24
post #4

This puts developers in companies that commit to open source projects like Chromium to be at a significant advantage to those developing proprietary software. I understand where the author is coming from, but this is unfair for those who work on closed-source projects. Of course I have my own personal projects, but for most of them, I am not about release their source.

would it be "fair" to a developer who went out of their way to give insight into their talents as a software developer by publishing their code / taking part in open source have that effort be ignored so a companies hiring process is more "fair" to people who didnt take the same effort.

that aside, a companies hiring process isnt designed to be fair, its designed to efficiently recruit the best talent.

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#25

If you're a company looking for developers, you have to learn to live with developers who are simply good enough. I'm talking about guys and gals who just see programming as a way to pay the bills. Everybody wants to hire the brightest developers, but there aren't enough to go around. It's a mathematical impossibility.

...unless you're Apple, or Google, or some other company with the money and cachet to attract the best.

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#26
post #16
post #15

Could someone explain why "being on Github" is synonymous with "contributing to open source" in some circles? The Github projects are a very small part of the open source universe. You can easily build *BSD or LinuxFromScratch with a substantial userland without ever downloading anything from Github.

We're predominantly web developers. A large portion of open source activity in the web development world happens on Github.

That and I'm certain jresig wasn't limiting his sentiment to Github. Just using it as an example

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#27
post #15

Could someone explain why "being on Github" is synonymous with "contributing to open source" in some circles? The Github projects are a very small part of the open source universe. You can easily build *BSD or LinuxFromScratch with a substantial userland without ever downloading anything from Github.

I think one answer to your question is "visibility". When you go to a Github project page, you're greeted with standard fork/download/commit links. But you're also one or two clicks away from viewing actual source inline.

Yes, other websites show source inline, but I've found that they are not intuitive at all, and the code (to me) feels hidden.

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#28
post #15

Could someone explain why "being on Github" is synonymous with "contributing to open source" in some circles? The Github projects are a very small part of the open source universe. You can easily build *BSD or LinuxFromScratch with a substantial userland without ever downloading anything from Github.

Speaking frankly, even on our slowest days, the number of open source commits being pushed to GitHub dwarfs other sites [1]. That's not to say OS development isn't happening elsewhere, but there happens to be a lot of it going on in one particular place these days.

To your second point, you're right. I'd love to be able to convince older OS projects to move to GitHub. Some do[2], but it's an uphill battle.

1. https://github.com/blog/802-still-committing-like-crazy

2. https://github.com/bagder/curl

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#29
post #4

This puts developers in companies that commit to open source projects like Chromium to be at a significant advantage to those developing proprietary software. I understand where the author is coming from, but this is unfair for those who work on closed-source projects. Of course I have my own personal projects, but for most of them, I am not about release their source.

>Of course I have my own personal projects, but for most of them, I am not about release their source.

Any particular reason?

Re: When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day.

#30
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this part of the reason for references, but more importantly: probation period ?

references are useless, companies are very wary to give bad references due to the chance of a lawsuit, and a probation period is a massive cost to the company

> a probation period is a massive cost to the company

Perhaps, but it's a lot less than the cost of not having a probationary period and winding up stuck with a poor member of staff indefinitely because you couldn't do the impossible and spot every problem candidate during a momentary interview.

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