A question about integrity?

Firstly, I think it's better if a developer goes out there to find a prebuilt solution instead of writing it from scratch, but most corporates will want to track open source usage and will probably have policies around it.
Remember that all open source software comes with a license. You need to know the open source licenses and what your rights are to make sure the product doesn't break those. Usually you have to keep references to the original project and if the software is ever distributed, then the source needs to be distributed with it and the original license.
Furthermore, if the open source software itself were ever found to contain code that was copied from a proprietary source, anyone using the code could be held liable for copyright infringement.

It would be naive to think that no-one will ever figure out. If you are asked to make changes to the software, you might find the requirements more difficult because they go to the core of the application - the code borrowed from the open source project. This could take a while to understand and may take longer to develop than had you written the original code yourself.
Also, it is unlikely you will be the only developer that will ever work on the application. Another developer would probably be able to quite quickly distinguish between the style of code that you write and the code taken from the open source application.
 
That depends on where the code was found and what licence it has. Most open source licences require you to mention the source so unless this code was totally free to use in anyway you please which I doubt he has to give credit where its due. If the owner of that code finds out that a company used it and claimed it to be their own he could very likely sue that company. So in other words by not being truthful your colleague may be exposing the company to risk.
 
I like a resourceful dev. If I caught him or her out lying directly they would drop in my estimation. No repurcussions though as long as the job is done and the source of their code legal.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Nothing wrong with finding a mostly-built solution and customising it IMO. It allows you to integrate and get your solution out sooner. Why spend 3x more on dev time for something that might or might not work before a particular deadline?
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True, but you must not lie about it when asked about it.

EDIT : Sorry i see this is a scenario and the dev in question wasnt asked anything yet by his manager.
 
Most companies appreciate employees who save them money so honesty might even pay off more than dishonesty.
 
Also watch out for the legal aspects of just copying code. It could cause trouble later if the work is not properly attributed. Best to clearly indicate where all the code came from and check their software licenses for any other implications.
 
If it works it works, How you made it work is on you. As long as it meets the deadline and the requirements of the task, assuming you used the code and altered it to meet the 30% of features that was missing?

Or did you mean they took the EXACT thing and implemented it exactly as it without any additional development? In that case credit is due to the author of that code and some/little to you for the technical knowledge to implement it.
 
I'm not so sure.

If it's online then it's either freeware or shareware. I wouldn't lift it lock stock n barrel, but maybe borrow ideas.
 
AntiGanda said:
I'm not so sure.

If it's online then it's either freeware or shareware. I wouldn't lift it lock stock n barrel, but maybe borrow ideas.
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Wow, be careful, you really need to read up on your licensing. Shareware and freeware aren't in the same category because these would usually refer to closed source packages that allow you to use the binaries without paying (freeware) or to share the binaries and pay for it if you find it useful (shareware). They wouldn't grant rights to the code.
Further more, just because the code is available doesn't mean you're allowed to use it. Many products are open source, but may have restrictive licensing conditions preventing you from re-using the source. Free software is "free" of those restrictions and would allow you to re-use and re-distribute. The only catch is you usually need to keep distributing the source code and keep all references to the original project. There may be scenarios where you can copy code for commercial use with no source or references, but it's not common to find complete projects like that.
 
gkm said:
Also watch out for the legal aspects of just copying code. It could cause trouble later if the work is not properly attributed. Best to clearly indicate where all the code came from and check their software licenses for any other implications.
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This, the license might require you to release derivative code under the same license, publish the code openly and attribute the original authors. Many a company has been sued for this stuff before. Just because it's under something like the gpl license for example does not mean you can just take it and do as you please.

The MIT license is probably one of the more permissive ones but you still have to do the attribution thing.
 
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