Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
A lot of FOSS development is actually done by employees of commercial operations during their work hours, with the blessing of their employer. I have been involved in a couple of companies developing network appliances based on embedded Linux. We have gained huge leverage from using FOSS software and in return we have made major contributions back to the Linux kernel and other projects. Several of my colleagues spend a significant proportion of their working hours as maintainer of FOSS projects. The company is enlightened enough to recognize that this is a benefit to them.
The quality of FOSS projects does vary widely, but some of it (usually popular and widely used applications) is very good and as well supported as any proprietary product. Some proprietary software is truly awful as well 
Cheers,
Rick. |
I agree with Rick. In my work for a gigantic engineering, electrical, weapons, electronics mainenance facility I always encouraged my staff to do their FO's that were associated with their trades, particularly for members of other trades in the organisation. There was plenty of time as long as they did their assigned tasks first and the access to similar facilities in other trades developed real camarade in an organisation that was very demarkised and unionised
This is a real asset to employers as it saves on training time and often develops skills that can used in assigned tasks. It also keeps them from getting bored with routine tasks. It also keeps them open about what they are doing and pass information on to fellow staff.
Barry