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If you use open-source software at work -- which you almost certainly do -- your employer might not mind if you spend a small, fixed amount of time every week i

by biztos 10y ago

If you use open-source software at work -- which you almost certainly do -- your employer might not mind if you spend a small, fixed amount of time every week improving that software. You should ask your manager. First identify what you'd work on, then make an argument for how improving it would be good for the company as well as the public, and finally (if needed) try to sell them on the PR and recruiting benefit to the company. Propose a specific chunk of time for it, so your manager doesn't have to worry about you disappearing down a rabbit hole. (I might suggest the last 4 hours of the week, when not much gets done anyway.) If you work for a larger company there may be policies around this, and they are likely to make it more difficult. But as a developer, you only need your manager's approval. If you work for a smaller company you'll have a much easier time selling the idea. And if it's really important to you, consider working for a company that actively supports this.

jehna1 10y ago
I have successfully done this in a couple of jobs. The key takeaways: 1. Help the managers realize that you're probably saving 1000s of hours monthly by using existing open source software. The least you can do (as a company) is to give few hours back to the community. 2. Sometimes it's about "can we open-source this tool/work/whatever?" or "does this give our competitors advantage?". Make sure you think this through before talking to the manager; I got a couple of internal tools open-sourced when I argued that even though it does advance our competitors if we'd publish a great tool, it also positions us as a company as the leaders of the genre (helping in recruitment, sales, etc). 3. "Does it benefit the company?" - Managers love to see the company logo in the project. So ask yourself if you're willing to trade some publicity of the company (e.g. "powered by YourCompany" badge, "supported by YourCompany" in the README.md, or moving the Github project under your company's account) for some hours that would be allocated for you to work on the project.

by biztos 10y ago

jehna1 10y ago

I have successfully done this in a couple of jobs. The key takeaways: 1. Help the managers realize that you're probably saving 1000s of hours monthly by using existing open source software. The least you can do (as a company) is to give few hours back to the community. 2. Sometimes it's about "can we open-source this tool/work/whatever?" or "does this give our competitors advantage?". Make sure you think this through before talking to the manager; I got a couple of internal tools open-sourced when I argued that even though it does advance our competitors if we'd publish a great tool, it also positions us as a company as the leaders of the genre (helping in recruitment, sales, etc). 3. "Does it benefit the company?" - Managers love to see the company logo in the project. So ask yourself if you're willing to trade some publicity of the company (e.g. "powered by YourCompany" badge, "supported by YourCompany" in the README.md, or moving the Github project under your company's account) for some hours that would be allocated for you to work on the project.