[ale] The risk of proprietary code: unemployment

[Ray Knight]

On Thu, 2003-05-15 at 09:25, Michael D. Hirsch wrote:
> Don Marti (Editor of the Linux Journal) has these interesting thoughts in 
> todays "Aspire to Crudeness" email about an often overlooked risk to 
> proprietary code:
> 
>    You've probably seen a lot of speculation about the SCO v. IBM
>    lawsuit, so I'll spare you mine. But I would like to point out one
>    almost certain long-term consequence of this mess. IBM is a big
>    company with good lawyers, and they have the kind of precautions in
>    place that keep one group from peeking at copyrighted or NDA-covered
>    code that's exclusive to another group. Other companies aren't like
>    that, and they will be cleaning house and setting up IBM-like fences.
> 
>    Companies will have to take a closer look at which developers have
>    seen other people's proprietary source code and avoid those people.
>    When the next litigious company comes around, Management is going to
>    want to show a clear set of rules demonstrating it couldn't possibly
>    have infringed a software copyright even if it wanted to. That will
>    mean more detailed forms to fill out when you look for a job, and
>    unfortunately, it will lead to more age discrimination. If you've seen
>    proprietary source code that competes with your prospective
>    employer's, you're pre-contaminated. Tainted. A lawsuit magnet.
> 
>    It's summer break from college. If you're in Computer Science, and
>    you're going back to a school that has Shared Source or other
>    NDA-based access to source code, you'd better get hired by the one
>    company whose code it is. Otherwise, be prepared to look for a job at
>    Borders or Noah's Bagels.
> 
>    If you want to be generally employable, stay away from educational
>    institutions that are willing to taint you by showing you proprietary
>    code.
> 
>    --
>    Don Marti:
>  

This and SCO's lawsuit are both total horseshit.  There is no law
(including copyright law) that prevents me from re-implementing code I
have seen elsewhere unless I've signed a non-disclosure agreement (I
never have and never will).  I can't copy the code, but I can sure as
hell re-implement it.  And when I re-implement the code it will most
likely be better, because so much code out there is not very efficient
or robust.

Ray


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