131–140 of 144 posts
Is github a generic enough name for what you want to do, long-term?
Perhaps not, but the name has served us well so far. Early adopters like to identify with new technology and the name GitHub does that extremely well. I can't predict if we'll need to change the name later on. The next few years should make it clear wether the name is too restrictive or not.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I want all of the data on GitHub to be open. We recently made our wiki system Git-backed so that users could get their data. I want to do the same for Issues and comments and everything else. These things take time. I'm not really sure what you mean by "federate Github and Gitorious, or unfuddle".
Well, basically, I could push to either of those and see my code pulled by others... with some kind of callback mechanism. Have you considered implementing PubSubHubbub? It's a great way to make all feeds open. [In my case, it would allow me to make a status.net instance that publishes my GH activities, or the commits on the repos that I 'own']
Working fulltime for Powerset, how did you avert any potential IP issues with Powerset? Employee contracts for just about any big tech company includes provisions that automatically makes all types of IP (including inventions and copyrights) developed by the employee belong to the company. This applies even if the work is done completely on the sides and outside work hours. California specifically has laws that allow…
That form (release of inventions) scared me the first time I saw it (agency job) and I asked if I could just not sign it — they said that was fine. It's amazing how far you can get in life by just asking questions.
Working fulltime for Powerset, how did you avert any potential IP issues with Powerset? Employee contracts for just about any big tech company includes provisions that automatically makes all types of IP (including inventions and copyrights) developed by the employee belong to the company. This applies even if the work is done completely on the sides and outside work hours. California specifically has laws that allow…
1) You only work on your own unpaid time and not in the company's facilities.
2) You only work with your own hardware/software.
3) You don't do anything even tangentially related to your employer's line of business.
I do not believe #3 is really a hard requirement, but it significantly decreases your chances getting sued (and losing if you do get sued anyway).
Working fulltime for Powerset, how did you avert any potential IP issues with Powerset? Employee contracts for just about any big tech company includes provisions that automatically makes all types of IP (including inventions and copyrights) developed by the employee belong to the company. This applies even if the work is done completely on the sides and outside work hours. California specifically has laws that allow…
IANAL, but I believe in California you're pretty much safe if: 1) You only work on your own unpaid time and not in the company's facilities. 2) You only work with your own hardware/software. 3) You don't do anything even tangentially related to your employer's line of business. I do not believe #3 is really a hard requirement, but it significantly decreases your chances getting sued (and losing if you do get sued any…
(B) Indeed. Nothing is a hard requirement until you get asked in the court, "what made you think this was not a hard requirement when it's written in California code".
Working fulltime for Powerset, how did you avert any potential IP issues with Powerset? Employee contracts for just about any big tech company includes provisions that automatically makes all types of IP (including inventions and copyrights) developed by the employee belong to the company. This applies even if the work is done completely on the sides and outside work hours. California specifically has laws that allow…
ProTip: Just because someone puts a form in front of you doesn't mean you have to sign it :) That form (release of inventions) scared me the first time I saw it (agency job) and I asked if I could just not sign it — they said that was fine. It's amazing how far you can get in life by just asking questions.
Reading the form that I signed, doing extensive online research, and then reading the form again, I found that the form has been very carefully crafted to take care of every type of IP possible and yet without violating any laws including those of California.
In my case at least, I am skeptical that not signing the form would have worked. But may be. I'll certainly be smarter next time around!
GitHub's fandom is impressive considering how picky and opinionated developers are. How did you find an agnosticity balance that made such a diverse group of developers so happy? I'm curious if the answer is being selective in features. You guys had a Gem builder for a while. Was it closed to help foster that idea that GitHub wasn't only a Ruby community site? And, did you consider creating similar tools for other la…
We discontinued the gem builder because it was causing confusion in the gem ecosystem and we were unable to build all gems (e.g. those with C extensions or that needed signing). It was a fine experiment, but it didn't end up being the right thing to do.
Those kinds of build tools make more sense to be developed outside of GitHub and hooked in via the API or webhook system.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
It's rare that a day will go by that I don't work on GitHub in some fashion. I like to get out into nature on weekends to refresh my creative energy and get some exercise, but I'll still be checking email and maybe writing some code or jotting down ideas I had on the ride.