[ILUG] looking for linux software people

[kevin lyda]

On Sun, Dec 29, 2002 at 08:53:45PM +0000, Gavin Henrick wrote:
-----> Ronan Waide wrote:
> >This is a huge grey area, since arguably if I worked on a helpdesk
> >system in Job A and then wrote a helpdesk system in Job B, how do you
> >prove, exactly, that I didn't use IP from A to complete B? 
> Not a grey area at all, if the contract with me prohibits you (within 
> irish contract law) from doing so, then you cannot do so.
> 
> Any "key" knowledge you acquire working for a company, is their property 
> and simply, using it again if the contracts prohibits it is illegal. A 
> decent company would make sure your previous contracts dont infringe on 
> their ownership of a project you are working on now.

i find your rather extreme attitudes towards ip rather amusing in light
of your inability to properly attribute quotes.  i would expect someone
who expects employees to suffer such restrictions on their craft would
be a bit more careful with other's ip.

i also wonder if you've really reasoned this out?  what if you hire
a developer and a few months down the road assign her to project x.
two days later she comes back and says she can't do it since it's just
like what she did at her last job.  do you quiz potential employees on
what restrictions they had before?  what if their previous contract
required them to remain quiet?  how much influence should a previous
employer have over your employees?

i'll be honest, i would avoid working in such an environment - i'd look
into non-tech work first since it could have long-lasting damage to my
tech career.  it sounds to me like you do very little to protect your
employees from severe restrictions on their careers.  just out of uni i
made the mistake of working for a company that used a proprietary language
on a proprietary os - all of which adds up to a proprietary career.
that means low pay ($10k less then standard at the low end back in 1993),
low benefits and poor treatment.  ip restrictions as you describe above
create the same scenario even with open systems.

some people here are looking for work - i hope they keep the above in mind.

kevin

-- 
kevin at ie.suberic.net          "I think we need to change the old saying
fork()'ed on 37058400          that we need a building to fall on us,
meatspace place: home          because two did and we still don't get it."
http://ie.suberic.net/~kevin       --Bill Maher in a Salon interview