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I wrote a program for my boss. How legal is to to write the program again and make it FOSS? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago by DroneRights@lemm.ee to c/programming@programming.dev

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I told my boss I had an idea for a program that could improve efficiency across much of the business, and he let me build it on company time. In the long term, he wanted to be able to sell it to other companies. However, the program never got implemented due to personnel mismanagement, and I'd rather be able to post it on my github under a free licence so I can use it as a resume item, and at least someone would have the chance to actually use it. It's all still in my head, and I could write it again if I wanted. If I do, is it illegal to publish it? What if I write it in a different language? Do I need to change the variable names? I did plenty of research and planning on company time to build it, and it's not like I can research it again, it's all still in my head.

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[–] OhNoMoreLemmy@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is one of those things where you have to read your employment contract.

If your main job involves generating intellectual property (code, or research or something else) and you live in the US there's probably a clause saying you can't do this without permission. Otherwise, it's probably fine.

However, if you're in the US, they can still fire you whenever they feel like, so if you think this might seriously piss your company off and you need your job, you might want to ask permission first.