| while being upfront about employment terms is always a good thing, this sort of arrangement is unilateral in the company's favor. you sit there, churning out codes and solutions and they get to keep it after you leave. what do you get other than a pat on your back and some space filler on your resume? shares of the company? free software updates for life? a chance to preview new hardware before anyone else? how about free hardware? or at least the chance to buy it at cost? what about using whatever you help create, somewhere else? there are non-tech businesses that work this way and the morale is typically through the floor. you see this at brick and mortar businesses when there's no room for advancement within the company, because the company isn't expanding geographically they have one location and they like it that way. most of those companies, love these loopholes they can take advantage of, like less than full time hours so you don't get healthcare benefits and because the turnover rate is so high, no one ever really gets a raise. oh, they have protocols on the books, but no one makes it that long. it's like the rat box experiment - one box of rats has food and a way out - they spread out and flourish one box has no food, but a way out - they all leave one box has food and no way out - when the food runs out, so do they one box has no food and no way out - you end up with one really fat cannibal rat just because we humans like to pretend we are civilized, we are not immune to succumbing to our animal instincts. interestingly enough, this behavior can also be observed in neighborhoods in NYC where there are many NYCHA buildings grouped together like Queensbridge and Morrisania Houses. from their perspective there's no future, no food, no money, no hope - no discernible way out. so what do they do? they turn on each other. what do humans do where there is a massive blackout and we are suddenly back in the stone age?
we behave like the animals we are. we've seen it time and time again. I recommend becoming well versed in IP law if this is a 'lifestyle choice' anyone wants to make. at least then, you can protect your own right to profit off of anything you create in these set ups. |