“Plenty of developers work on open source projects on their own
time or even with their employer’s blessing. But before you become
a committer, you should be aware of these legal concerns.“In these days of economic uncertainty, it’s more important than
ever for developers to contribute to open source projects. There
are plenty of reasons to work on open source: to keep your skills
up-to-date (especially if you are unemployed, underemployed, or
want a better job), to make a difference in a community where your
efforts are valued, or just to keep the open source project moving
forward. Every snippet of code contributed builds a better
mousetrap, but you also need to safeguard yourself from
lawsuits.“Yes, lawsuits! Whether you contribute small bug fixes or entire
code modules, every developer needs to be aware that some people do
not look at such donations in the spirit of generosity.”
Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.
LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.
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