[rijoja]

Don't really know. Start out with trying to get as disciplined as possible. You have to have minute control over your daily schedule. Start out with allocating 2 hours a day or so.I

As far as IP assignment the only thing I could come up with is to license all your code under GPL. Since you are the creator the sheer complexity of the code and the fact that you wrote it, will make you the unquestionable authority of the project. Lets say Linus Thorvalds applied for a job that requires intimate knowledge of the Linux kernel, he would be among the top candidates to say the least.

But I'm interested to get more information on these IP laws. How common is it that employers use this? I mean the software you are developing might be in some other subset of the market. Would a company really waste time on attaining IP for a product which is far from what they sell? Or am I being naive? Also if the threat is real, would using a GPL license solve this problem? Is it even possible to apply the GPL license legally?

[throwawasiudy]

This is my issue - I don't know. I assume any time is worth wasting if your developer builds even a small business since the value of anything over 5 employees is likely more than a million. Time management is not my concern at all. If I could legally start a business I would begin working on it tomorrow

My current strategy is to open source everything because there's no reasonable way my company can take ownership of something that's free. I can't develop anything for money even though I've been asked to consult many times for many people.