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Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

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Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#41

Post by jcbrand »

thecatspaw wrote: post #26
mariusmg wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I've known some brilliant engineers who don't care at all for open source code The obvious irony here is those "brilliant" engineers will use open source code even though they don't care for it.

So? Just because your code is not open source does not mean you're not allowed to use it. They might not care about the company they are applying to opensourcing their code. Plus you have to try really hard nowadays to not use any open source code at all

> Just because your code is not open source does not mean you're not allowed to use it.

Depends on the license of the OSS and wether you're distributing or hosting the code that relies on it.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#42

Post by fipple »

On the contrary, I’ve found that companies who are actually doing hardcore software engineering, where the code is the main value driver for the business, rarely open source their best stuff, but they’re great places for engineers. Google doesn’t open source its self driving car code. Facebook’s value driver is the network, not the code, so it can open source anything. Dropbox’s client is amazing and is not only closed source but heavily obfuscated.

When a small company open sources everything, their main value driver is in sales or marketing or partnerships or something. Not a bad thing, but not a really engineering centric place.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#43

Post by onion2k »

mariusmg wrote: post #21
onion2k wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you go through your dev career thinking only people who write and use open source code are brilliant you'll miss out on the opportunity to learn from some of the industry's best developers. There are loads of people working on entirely closed source projects who are very, very good engineers. Not every project is web.

>If you go through your dev career thinking only people who write and use open source code are brilliant I didn't said that. I have just pointed that even close source developers are using open source when working daily on their closed source projects. So saying they don't care about something they use daily is ....wrong. Also I didn't said anything about their level of brilliance :) >Not ever project is web. The sna…

I didn't said that. I have just pointed that even close source developers are using open source when working daily on their closed source projects.

When I said "entirely closed source projects" I meant that literally - some projects have no open source elements. They're written in closed source languages that you have to pay for, with closed source libraries and frameworks that you also have to pay for. They tend to be things like control systems in small industries, unusual embedded systems, and so on.

The software industry is big and hard to make general statements about. "All developers will use open source code" is not true.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#44

Post by spin »

spondyl wrote: post #31

I have a question for some other HNers that is kinda related to this topic. I've got a library built solely by myself that I'm interested in open sourcing. I'm tossing up between putting it on my own Github account, where it probably blends in with the rest, or putting it on the OSS page for the company I work for which, honestly, is a bit of a wasteland (numerous unused forks mainly) I guess I just wonder what looks…

I would definitely put it under my own name, if I were you. Like another commentor mentioned: if you leave the company, you still control your own repo.

Also, whenever I interview programmers, I always browse their Github (or BitBucket or whatever). Not having a Github isn't such a bad thing, but if you have a cool (or popular) project of your own there, it can help you get noticed.

(Of course, you need to be careful that your employer isn't going to freak out about you posting code openly. I have a habit of starting side-projects in-between jobs, then only do updates on the weekends after I've started a new job.)

Another option, perhaps: put it on your own repo, but track it from the company's repo on the company's webpage. (If they'll let you do it, that is.) That gives you some free visibility.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#45

Post by fipple »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #9
013a wrote: post #6

There is a line you can draw in the sand here. I usually define it in terms of the Product; I don't believe companies should feel compelled, or even desire to, open source code which directly relates to the product they're trying to sell. The number of companies which actually do this are few and far between (Red Hat, Gitlab, others of course). However, companies should desire to open source code which supports their…

I challenge the notion that product is so precious that there's a benefit to it remaining closed source. If there is a line, I'd draw it at business process, not product. I'm a former Artsyer. There, a good bit of core product code t is actually open source, including the entire website and iOS app. As it turns out, the real value in most businesses is the data, business relationships, the domain knowledge, and the p…

Not every company is Artsy. Artsy is an Internet company, not a place where new frontiers are being conquered. It makes sense to build Artsy in the public square, not so much Waymo.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#47

Post by pjmlp »

mariusmg wrote: post #21
onion2k wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you go through your dev career thinking only people who write and use open source code are brilliant you'll miss out on the opportunity to learn from some of the industry's best developers. There are loads of people working on entirely closed source projects who are very, very good engineers. Not every project is web.

>If you go through your dev career thinking only people who write and use open source code are brilliant I didn't said that. I have just pointed that even close source developers are using open source when working daily on their closed source projects. So saying they don't care about something they use daily is ....wrong. Also I didn't said anything about their level of brilliance :) >Not ever project is web. The sna…

Using open source in many enterprises is just a way to save costs, many times at expense of productivity as there are closed source options that are actually better, but not all companies are willing to shell out the cash.

Contributing back, or even announcing to the world that such packages are used is not even a thing.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#48

Post by pjmlp »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #9
013a wrote: post #6

There is a line you can draw in the sand here. I usually define it in terms of the Product; I don't believe companies should feel compelled, or even desire to, open source code which directly relates to the product they're trying to sell. The number of companies which actually do this are few and far between (Red Hat, Gitlab, others of course). However, companies should desire to open source code which supports their…

I challenge the notion that product is so precious that there's a benefit to it remaining closed source. If there is a line, I'd draw it at business process, not product. I'm a former Artsyer. There, a good bit of core product code t is actually open source, including the entire website and iOS app. As it turns out, the real value in most businesses is the data, business relationships, the domain knowledge, and the p…

> I challenge the notion that product is so precious that there's a benefit to it remaining closed source. If there is a line, I'd draw it at business process, not product.

The overwhelming commercial success of FOSS desktop software.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#49

Post by navaati »

cwkoss wrote: post #17

Quasi-ethical business idea: Sell open source software 'ghostwriting' services It makes an engineer look good to have solid commits to an open source project on their github profile. The people who actually make the bulk of these commits put in tons of (at times thankless) free labor. Create a grey market for open source software contributors to sell their diffs (that they've already written and actually entail usefu…

I don't know about the rest of the world but in France you cannot sell (or give, or transfer in any way) attribution rights, only copyright.

Re: Want to Recruit Better Engineers? Open Source Your Code

#50

Post by [deleted] »

cwkoss wrote: post #17

Quasi-ethical business idea: Sell open source software 'ghostwriting' services It makes an engineer look good to have solid commits to an open source project on their github profile. The people who actually make the bulk of these commits put in tons of (at times thankless) free labor. Create a grey market for open source software contributors to sell their diffs (that they've already written and actually entail usefu…

[deleted]
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