[hashr8064]

So here's some of the reason's they give for why Engineers want to work on Open Source:

> They want to work in the open because it creates some visibility to them

> The best companies align business needs with the desires of individual contributors (Engineers) to create their personal brand

> Smart developers like to hang out with smart code. When you open source useful code, you attract talent.

Some of these may play some factor when choosing a company but honestly I think its very small and/or confounding with the underlying factors. More likely IMHO is that companies with an open and communicative culture, where people and processes are transparent, and where work is iterative and agile, tend to open source more code b/c it fits perfectly in that culture. I think Engineers in turn are probably more attracted to that culture as opposed to classically hierarchical, bureaucratic, structured monolithic organizations (which also tend to open source less code b/c it doesn't fit their culture).

[Silhouette]

This is the classic paradox of employing developers, though. Of course those developers want to establish a good professional reputation, because it makes it easier for them to find new gigs later on. However, encouraging "resume driven development" practices and high staff turnover is hardly in the interests of the employers. Obviously it's good to have an engaging work environment that is interesting for your team where you can, but ultimately it's a business and you're all there to get a job done, not to pad your resume so you can hop to the next one in a few months for a 10% pay bump. In a few strange bubbles like SV, where the crazy money available is barely correlated with the value or efficiency of the businesses spending it, maybe you can overlook this for a while, but I'm not sure it's a healthy, sustainable culture in the industry.

[zmmmmm]

I don't really care about any of those things. The reason I want to create open source as part of my job is it means I can take it with me when I leave. What's the point in building up deep expertise in something that you just throw away and never see again if you shift jobs? When I'm working on open source I see myself accumulating a lifetime resource / skill compared to something that is relatively ephemeral.

[watwut]

Is there really a reason/data to think that open source companies are better places (better culture) to work at compared to another company of the same size? Or is it just assumption?

[eesmith]

As a note, "open source companies" != "tend to open source more code".

There are relatively few open source companies. Most companies which distribute open source do so for part of the company which is not directly connected to revenue generation.