8 ms·

Were those side projects done during work hours or using Google's equipment?

by petjuh 7y ago

DigitalSea 7y ago
Some of the side projects he worked on prior to joining Google. >Like many Googlers, I had projects I worked on in my spare time. Some of those I carried over from before joining. >When I joined, I submitted two projects that I was actively working on at the time, largely just maintaining: AsbestOS (yes, those were the PS3 Linux days) and usbmuxd (iPhone USB comms daemon, you probably have it if you have Ubuntu!).
- ownagefool 7y ago
  They also said it wasn't during work hours or on googles equipment. Though, honestly, I doubt I really even agree on the equipment clause when it. When said equipment is a laptop and a phone, using their device would be more about not wanting to carry multiple devices than any interstice value gained by the equipment.
  - mamon 7y ago
    I think this restriction makes more sense in other industries, such as pharmaceuticals, where lab equipment can cost millions of dollars, so employee doing their own "side projects" on it is more real abuse of company property.
    - ownagefool 7y ago
      I'd typically agree, there is a solid argument there and the premise as a whole makes sense, I just think trivialities should be excluded, and that standard software development is fairly trivial use. Once you test such software against company owned datasets, it's a different ballgame.
Eikon 7y ago
It's crazy that the "using X company equipment" legal basis works at all in those disputes. Most of the time, "equipment" seems to mean "laptop". IHMO when "equipment" is such a commodity as a laptop, this should never even be an issue. That's like a newspaper that would claims the work of one of it's journalist who is writing books on his personal time on the basis that the book was written with a pencil he brought home from work.
- nullc 7y ago
  This is most easily resolved by simply not using a company laptop at any time. One of the first pieces of advice I got when I joined a big tech company for the first time was to just put the work provided laptop back in it's original box and get my own. This turns out to be pretty good from a number of angles-- you get an emergency spare plus any kind of crazy bloat ware your job needs you already have a sacrificial host to load it on.
  - Eikon 7y ago
    And then you get fired for spreading sensitive company information on non-authorized devices.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      It obviously depends what the company rules are. Many are fine with you using a personal laptop so long as you follow rules like encrypted disk, etc.
  - romanows 7y ago
    You're just doing work on your personal laptop? That doesn't mean you own the work you produce so I think it would complicate ownership of the non-work you produce. Best to use the work laptop for work and the personal laptop for personal stuff both for IP and company policy reasons.
    - nullc 7y ago
      > That doesn't mean you own the work you produce Of course not, it does however eliminate a host of problems resulting from using company equipment including additional complications from efforts you would otherwise own except for using company equipment, or the extraordinarly reduced right to privacy you have on company equipment. Using separate equipment is also good, but isn't always realistic particularly if your work requires frequent travel. Obviously this only works out if your employer is okay with you using your own system for work. Years ago almost all were, and I believe today outside of few industries it's still commonly fine.
marcan_42 7y ago
No, they weren't.

Were those side projects done during work hours or using Google's equipment?

by petjuh 7y ago

Were those side projects done during work hours or using Google's equipment?

Some of the side projects he worked on prior to joining Google. >Like many Googlers, I had projects I worked on in my spare time. Some of those I carried over from before joining. >When I joined, I submitted two projects that I was actively working on at the time, largely just maintaining: AsbestOS (yes, those were the PS3 Linux days) and usbmuxd (iPhone USB comms daemon, you probably have it if you have Ubuntu!).

ownagefool 7y ago
They also said it wasn't during work hours or on googles equipment. Though, honestly, I doubt I really even agree on the equipment clause when it. When said equipment is a laptop and a phone, using their device would be more about not wanting to carry multiple devices than any interstice value gained by the equipment.
- mamon 7y ago
  I think this restriction makes more sense in other industries, such as pharmaceuticals, where lab equipment can cost millions of dollars, so employee doing their own "side projects" on it is more real abuse of company property.
  - ownagefool 7y ago
    I'd typically agree, there is a solid argument there and the premise as a whole makes sense, I just think trivialities should be excluded, and that standard software development is fairly trivial use. Once you test such software against company owned datasets, it's a different ballgame.

Eikon 7y ago

It's crazy that the "using X company equipment" legal basis works at all in those disputes. Most of the time, "equipment" seems to mean "laptop". IHMO when "equipment" is such a commodity as a laptop, this should never even be an issue. That's like a newspaper that would claims the work of one of it's journalist who is writing books on his personal time on the basis that the book was written with a pencil he brought home from work.

nullc 7y ago
This is most easily resolved by simply not using a company laptop at any time. One of the first pieces of advice I got when I joined a big tech company for the first time was to just put the work provided laptop back in it's original box and get my own. This turns out to be pretty good from a number of angles-- you get an emergency spare plus any kind of crazy bloat ware your job needs you already have a sacrificial host to load it on.
- Eikon 7y ago
  And then you get fired for spreading sensitive company information on non-authorized devices.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    It obviously depends what the company rules are. Many are fine with you using a personal laptop so long as you follow rules like encrypted disk, etc.
- romanows 7y ago
  You're just doing work on your personal laptop? That doesn't mean you own the work you produce so I think it would complicate ownership of the non-work you produce. Best to use the work laptop for work and the personal laptop for personal stuff both for IP and company policy reasons.
  - nullc 7y ago
    > That doesn't mean you own the work you produce Of course not, it does however eliminate a host of problems resulting from using company equipment including additional complications from efforts you would otherwise own except for using company equipment, or the extraordinarly reduced right to privacy you have on company equipment. Using separate equipment is also good, but isn't always realistic particularly if your work requires frequent travel. Obviously this only works out if your employer is okay with you using your own system for work. Years ago almost all were, and I believe today outside of few industries it's still commonly fine.

marcan_42 7y ago

No, they weren't.