this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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And depending on the details of your employment, if you code for fun, on your own time, at home, using your own equipment, the company still owns it.
Weird coincidence, all my hobby code I've ever done at home is "drop database" and corrupt system files scripts. If they want them they can have them. 😈
I don't get how anyone could EVER enforce a law or agreement or rule that says something I wrote at home on my device on my time is theirs. Don't touch my files with your gross corporate fingers! Ahhh!
Check your employment terms. I'd wager the first step of that is seeing if you have a paper copy. I know I don't for all the places I've worked or acquisitions I've been through.
Something like an ALCU or Second Amendment Foundation that focused on nothing but that would be a nice-to-have. I think it overall destroys creativity in the industry.
No no, I mean, how could they possibly ever know: A. That I wrote a thing. B. I did it within a timeframe. C. It should be theirs.
Etc.
Like, if made "Flappy Bird 2" this weekend and made money on it, how would they ever even know? I did it on my PC, on my time, in my home.
I guess only if I made mega money and they found out, but couldn't I just say I wrote the game years ago, but just published it now, so it still isnt yours?
Just seems impossible to enforce.
I agree with your sentiment, and that the world should work like your hypothetical.
Lawyers doing lawyer stuff. As to why, you said it:
We'd have to have real lawyers weigh in, but for the most part I think unless you found an undiscovered market then they won't care. Programming isn't unique in the respect that the tools you need to do world-changing work aren't that different between what you might have at home versus a well funded computer science research lab, but you're much more likely to stumble into a marketable app than you are a quicker FFT.