[spondyl]

I have a question for some other HNers that is kinda related to this topic.

I've got a library built solely by myself that I'm interested in open sourcing.

I'm tossing up between putting it on my own Github account, where it probably blends in with the rest, or putting it on the OSS page for the company I work for which, honestly, is a bit of a wasteland (numerous unused forks mainly)

I guess I just wonder what looks nicer on a resume. I would assume having something on an OSS Github org looks better but is it really? I don't recall ever looking at eg; a Google or Netflix project and looking into the authors vs looking into an individuals Github project.

I dunno, just wondering if anyone has any thoughts. I understand legalities come into play too but for this is more of a hypothetical.

[spin]

I would definitely put it under my own name, if I were you. Like another commentor mentioned: if you leave the company, you still control your own repo.

Also, whenever I interview programmers, I always browse their Github (or BitBucket or whatever). Not having a Github isn't such a bad thing, but if you have a cool (or popular) project of your own there, it can help you get noticed.

(Of course, you need to be careful that your employer isn't going to freak out about you posting code openly. I have a habit of starting side-projects in-between jobs, then only do updates on the weekends after I've started a new job.)

Another option, perhaps: put it on your own repo, but track it from the company's repo on the company's webpage. (If they'll let you do it, that is.) That gives you some free visibility.

[SmellyGeekBoy]

I'm going to question my sibling commenters' assumptions here - reading between the lines of your comment it seems this may have been developed as part of a work project using your employer's time / equipment? In which case I'd look into the terms of your contract before releasing anything.

Of course if this is a side project on your own time then personal GitHub all the way - your employer doesn't deserve any of the credit at all. I always have a good look at job applicants' GitHub accounts and while contributing to open source isn't a requirement, it certainly helps.

[leipert]

Put it under your account, in case you stop working for the company. If that library gains traction, you can move it to its own ORG, which makes it easier to manage other contributors.

Finally look out if that project could be moved to other big OSS orgs at some point. I created some packages for the Atom editor, and when it became clear I couldn't maintain them, I found another ORGs that were able to pick it up.

[andy_ppp]

Maybe do the other thing - if it's a really useful project with the potential of a community around it, name it well and make an organisation just for your work.

[kqr]

Look up lokal laws before publishing anything. In some jurisdictions, you have no right to open source anything you bild on company time or propery.

[pferde]

Was it done on company-paid time, or on your own? What does your work contract say about writing software?