Nice answer David. Open source plays such an integral part in how I write code these days.
When tackling a problem I decide wether:
A. This problem is niche, it's no use to someone else. I need to write it and it's not worth open sourcing it
B. This problem is of use to someone else - someone has probably already solved it better than I'm likely to and I should find their code
C. This problem is of use to someone else and I can't find code to solve it then there's a small chance that I can benefit other people (and perhaps also build my own profile) by writing something that does solve it. Like creating a product people use, it's an honour to create code people use.
Finally, as a founder I feel that if you produce code which isn't a tactical asset in the company but which really could be of use to a large group of other people then you stand a chance of making it tougher, more flexible and more efficient by letting other people use and improve it. It's a real power-up for the company itself.
When tackling a problem I decide wether:
A. This problem is niche, it's no use to someone else. I need to write it and it's not worth open sourcing it
B. This problem is of use to someone else - someone has probably already solved it better than I'm likely to and I should find their code
C. This problem is of use to someone else and I can't find code to solve it then there's a small chance that I can benefit other people (and perhaps also build my own profile) by writing something that does solve it. Like creating a product people use, it's an honour to create code people use.
Finally, as a founder I feel that if you produce code which isn't a tactical asset in the company but which really could be of use to a large group of other people then you stand a chance of making it tougher, more flexible and more efficient by letting other people use and improve it. It's a real power-up for the company itself.