The practice is typically viewed as pernicious behavior in both small and large companies. There are a few 'lifestyle companies' which have an ethos of develop

The practice is typically viewed as pernicious behavior in both small and large companies. There are a few 'lifestyle companies' which have an ethos of developing in the the open. If you do not know if you work at one, then you probably don't. I know it does not seem "fair" that virtually every intellectual product you create is ascribed to your employer; especially since you have probably made a significant effort to make your professional interests align with your personal interests. (This is particularly true at the beginning of your career.) Different companies draw the line differently. Most seem to be okay with the submission of fixes/patches/features to existing open-source projects. For those not so lucky, you will periodically see substantive "Drive-By-PullRequests" from anonymous committers. Though - for maintenance reasons, those are often rejected.