Speaker
Description
For many contributors to FOSS projects it is a dream to get hired to work full time, or even part time, on their favorite project and get paid for it. And companies love hiring motivated, skilled developers with a history of contributions to successful projects.
This dream can come true, and has, for many in KDE, at least for a while, but it can also turn into a disappointment and has risks for the contributor, the hiring company and the project.
In this talk I will share my personal experience getting hired to work on KDE, hiring people to work on KDE and other projects, and dealing with the conflicts of interest and challenges that appeared along the way. I will also take an honest look at the tradeoffs involved for all parties.
Biography
Till started contributing to KDE over 20 years ago, wrote code for KDEPIM, got hired by KDAB to write code for KDEPIM, hired several more KDE people to write code for KDE, stole several KDE people away for other interesting work at KDAB, helped create and run other FOSS based businesses, hired people into those from their communities, tried to fund KDE development in various ways, tried to find ways to pay FOSS folks to work on FOSS stuff generally, and supported KDE e.V. getting into the business of paying for KDE development. He has not given up hope of finding sustainable ways of funding FOSS work that do not exploit contributors and continues to hire FOSS folks into KDAB.
| Headshot Link | https://lirp.cdn-website.com/5867031a/dms3rep/multi/opt/TillDark-small-1474h.png |
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