This analogy doesn't really hold here – programmers are usually paid to write some code that doesn't yet exist. You can write it as open source, too – if your c

This analogy doesn't really hold here – programmers are usually paid to write some code that doesn't yet exist. You can write it as open source, too – if your contract allows this (e. g. https://commonform.org/switchmode/switchmode/3.0.1 https://commonform.org/switchmode/switchmode/3.0.1; although more often it's an informal agreement that your employer will open source the work in question).