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[aspectj-users] Getting paid to write open source software?
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Howdy, folks! I have a new job, which I (already) really love: I'm
now senior online editor for communities at cio.com and
csoonline.com. Naturally, that doesn't keep me from writing articles
-- and the first one that I decided to tackle is among the rough
spots between management and developers.
I know, from Evans Data research, that a rather high percentage of
software developers write open source code, whether on their own time
or the company's clock; some meaningful percentage of those
developers also contribute the changes back to the open source
community. And one of the factoids mentioned in passing at the
Gartner Open Source summit in September was that a growing percentage
of corporations are paying their own developers to work on open
source projects, some of whom do so full time. IBM is probably the
easiest example, with several people on the Eclipse project employed
by IBM.
I'm looking for other people in that situation -- either the salaried
open source developer or that developer's management -- so I can
write an article to provide guidance to IT Managers who are
contemplating such options.
What I'm hoping to find (or create) are management guidelines for
companies who want to take advantage of open source code, and know
that they need functions that aren't currently in the software. The
easiest solution is to add the features they need to the existing
open source code base, then contribute the enhancements back to the
development community. But doing so can raise intellectual property
questions (such as "what does it mean for 'work for hire'?")... and
perhaps several other issues that make lawyers and CEOs
uncomfortable. I'd like to get your input on what issues the open
source developer and her manager need to deal with. (Feel free to
forward this to developers you know who might be able to help.)
Note that I'm NOT looking here for people who are using open source
tools at work; that is, I'm thrilled if you write code in Eclipse or
you target your site to run on the Apache Web server, but I'm not
after the users. Rather, I'm in search of someone who writes the code
_of_ the open source software: a committer to Plone, a contributor to
Drupal, a programmer who's given code to samba. And who has done so
on company time, whether as part of the job description or simply to
get the work done or for any other reason. With or without management
approval, though I'm most interested in those who can say "with."
So, if you're the right person, here's the questions I'm wondering
about:
* How did you convince management that this was a good idea? Or did
they approach you?
* What concerns did management have regarding intellectual property
issues? How were they resolved?
* People issues: Were there "team" challenges, since the open source
developer is sort-of working on corporate applications (but not
quite)? Have the needs of the open source community ever presented a
conflict with your company identity? Do people in the open source
community know for whom you work; that is, does your e-mail sig
identify you as @company.com or @myself.com, and does that have any
side effects?
* What other problems came up? How have you dealt with them?
* In short, what should a manager know before she decides to say,
"Okay, we'll let you work 20 hours a week on the such-and-so project"?
I'm writing for the manager and CIO here; let's help them make the
best decisions possible.
I'm hoping to post the article sometime at the beginning of December,
so I'd appreciate any advice you can offer me -- publicly or
privately -- sooner rather than later. Also, let me know (privately
if necessary) about your company and open source community
affliations; we can work out the details of "how should I refer to
you" one-on-one.
Esther Schindler
senior editor, cio.com
eschindler@xxxxxx
