4 ms·

I can understand the legal requirement, what I don't is the reason why anyone would freely contribute to a project from a corporate behemoth.

• devnullbrain 4y ago
  Free software isn't charity, it's often just another way of building software between multiple companies.
• dgacmu 4y ago
  Because you want something. That might be a feature that you then don't have to maintain yourself, publicity/goodwill, or even entertainment. Or to improve something you like so that you like it even more.
• Xylakant 4y ago
  The corporate behemoth is publishing something that I get to use for free. It has a bug, that I just happen to trip over constantly. It's important to me to fix it since it requires effort to work around it. It's just not high enough in their priority list that I can expect that to happen soon. The fix is simple and I have a good idea how to approach it. What do I do? Fork, carry the patchset until they fix it? Or contribute the fix, taking all the burden of maintaining it. I can now freely decide to accept their terms on how to contribute a change that benefits me to a project they own.
• fmajid 4y ago
  Usually this means the corporate behemoth takes on the burden of maintenance for your PR, relieving you of the costs of maintaining your own fork. It's often a worthwhile trade-off. Your fixes will also get wider distribution if you upstream them, benefitting the community as a whole.
• teeray 4y ago
  It can also serve as an audition for some folks. I’ve seen contributions turn into interviews.