💾 Archived View for gemini.ctrl-c.club › ~stack › gemlog › 2022-03-09.soul.gmi captured on 2023-04-26 at 13:49:04. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2022-04-28)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I came across a poster talking about how they love their tech job (which helps make the world a better place), but the boss _owns_ and disallows any publication of their code - at work, at home, casually posted shell script, a game. The writer 'cleverly' avoids the issue by copying and pasting some game script example code and changing a few words. Problem solved?
Disclaimer: I am not here to shame anyone. I am extremely fortunate in that I do not have to take such jobs. Had I taken jobs like that, I would not be this 'lucky'.
When it comes down to survival, anything goes. I would sell anything I have, including my body, to keep my family from starving. There is no shame in that. Are things bad enough that you would sell your soul?
Coding is a form of expression, not different from writing, sketching, photography, or dance. Even more, for me it takes the brainspace that some people fill with religion or meditation. I experience satori on a regular basis, and god help anyone who gets in the way of that.
Tell a Christian that they cannot pray outside of church. Tell a Rastafarian they must sell weed for the syndicate but can't freely use it as needed. Tell a Jew... Never mind, you get it.
Americans like to talk the talk about freedom of speech and expression. They also love money. Apparently more than the freedom. Not just Americans. There is actually a confusion of freedom and money, as the two are _not_ the same.
How did this become _at all_ acceptable? This is not a non-compete agreement, this is outright ownership of _all_ your output in the context of code, whatever that means. Is mentioning code allowed? Is changing a few words in boilerplate really allowed? That's literally what coding is in many cases. Does it extend to algorithms? Your Wordle solving strategy?
Just say no, very loudly.
You don't hire a carpenter and tell them you own the door he fixed at his mom's house. You don't hire a wedding band and tell them you own their original songs. If you own a restaurant, you don't tell the chef they can't make breakfast at home. A staff writer at a local newspaper is free to write an autobiography.
If anyone offers me a job that somehow helps make the world a better place, but all the code I come up with at home is theirs, I would tell them to kindly fuck off. It is a lie. People who think abusive behavior is acceptable _will not_ contribute to making the world a better place.