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You could probably get about 80% of the job done with just 20% of the work. I’m not in OSS but I hire technical people remotely, and I know many people that do.
by aerhardt 3y ago
You could probably get about 80% of the job done with just 20% of the work. I’m not in OSS but I hire technical people remotely, and I know many people that do. Some consultant friends have caught blatant scams within the first couple of rounds of interviews on Zoom.
- Denvercoder9 3y agoInterviewing is a different situation though, because you start having essentially no relationship with the interviewee, and you haven't seen their work. OSS projects don't just add everyone that asks as a co-maintainer. Usually it's someone that has contributed to the project for a while already, and through that has shown they understand the code, are capable of improving it, and can make sensible decisions about the road to take.
- aerhardt 3y agoYea, I get that, from what I see in the details of this case the contributor was very competent. What I'm questioning here is whether in OSS projects there is enough face-to-face communication, probing about values, etc.
- jasode 3y ago>I’m not in OSS but I hire technical people remotely, [...] interviews on Zoom. Different situations with different incentives and psychology: - potential to receive money : job candidates are willing to get on Zoom calls or meet in person because they want a paycheck. - no money involved & volunteer for free : potential open source contributors are not interested in getting on Zoom calls for $0 pay.
- lenerdenator 3y agoThat's when you dangle a grant in front of them.
- User23 3y agoAlso, while I'm not a lawyer, and in general the bar is very high to criminally prosecute an employee for doing "a bad job," I wouldn't be surprised if there are major jurisdictions where intentionally backdooring your employer's code could land you in prison.