So recently Ive opened up a github account, in order to upload my projects I put hard work into. But I fear people may just steal my source code and just take credit for it instead. Ive opened it up just so potential employers could see my work, but the fear of theft just turns me off. What do you guys think?

Maybe, depending on what you mean.

Having a publicly-visible repository with date stamps makes it pretty easy for you to defend against a false ownership claim. Most nations have laws that include certain rights ("moral rights", "author's rights", and "defamation", among others) that protect your right to proper attribution. Some licenses waive some of those rights, but most still require attribution. Penalties for violation can be fairly harsh.

Most open source licenses include the principle of branching and forking development, that is, if one group is not happy with the direction you are taking the software they are free to create their own version of the software that does something differently. They can claim ownership over their changes, and if their project grows enough, it can take on a separate life than yours. That is part of the freedoms so many desire.


Can they claim credit for your code? No, but you might grant them permission to use it without attribution requirements.
Can they make their own project starting from a copy of your code? Yes, that is one reason open source exists.

Private repositories are available if you are willing to pay for it. That's there business so they'll try there best to protect your data. If you want to hide your code, this is what you'll need to do.

If you put your code in a public repo, you'll anyone will be able to look at it as public repos are generally for open source code. I have 2 public repos and I hope people use the code freely. I only want credit and not money for those projects.

I think you're worrying too much but just to be clear, if somebody is going to copy your code, the only way to protect yourself will be by trial. While most nations have regulations for intellectual property, you'll need to have a lawyer at hand.

On the pro side, making the code public will, as frob says, likely lower the cost of litigations quite a lot.

So, I guess you have to fully understand the mentality of what open source repositories really are.

I'm also considering opensourcing something, but I'm well aware I'll be giving up my right to control. With branches, there's no problem really. To be honest, if somebody picks it up, it'll be better so I'll move to something else.

I don't understand your issue.

Are you worried that people will reuse parts of your code?

Or are you worried people will claim that your entire project as their own?

I wouldn't be worried. If the main purpose of your repository is to showcase you code to potential employers then you shouldn't have anything secret or proprietary on there anyway.

Also I've never heard of an employer looking at code samples when recruiting someone. For some positions administrating a coding test as part of extended interview isn't uncommon but that will be under controlled circumstances and they will give you the task they want completed. But I can't imagine someone looking through your code after reading your CV.

So recently Ive opened up a github account, in order to upload my projects I put hard work into. But I fear people may just steal my source code and just take credit for it instead. Ive opened it up just so potential employers could see my work, but the fear of theft just turns me off. What do you guys think?

I think you did not grasp the concept of Open Source in general and GitHub in particular. Github is all about SHARING knowledge and Collaboration (you could argue that Software Development in general is about that). It says so right on the frontpage: "Share your projects with the world". If you are afraid that someone takes your code, puts his name on it and makes the millions of dollars instead of you, than go for private repositories. Or host it on your own webspace with GitLab.

BTW: There have been several reports over the years about employers ripping off applicants work. :-) Its a wild world we are living in.

BTW: There have been several reports over the years about employers ripping off applicants work. :-) Its a wild world we are living in.

This is true. I worked at company where we had a recruit do a days work on a new app to assess his skill level, we didn't end up hiring him but did end up using his code in the app.

You can get a private repo on all these sites; you can even get a free private repo on many of them (limited to 1-5 users or 1Gb typically).

I don't think the OP means his code to be open-source, he wants people to be able to see it but not use it? I don't know if such a license exists but the simple fact is many, many people would not think twice about ripping off your work and you would never even know (unless you invented some new algorithm). It probably doesn't matter if they do unless you are in a niche and they are your direct competitor.

BTW: There have been several reports over the years about employers ripping off applicants work. :-) Its a wild world we are living in.

This is true. I worked at company where we had a recruit do a days work on a new app to assess his skill level, we didn't end up hiring him but did end up using his code in the app.

... so you just ripped off the code he showed you? Or you mean you were made aware of it and decided to integrate it into your application license permitting?

EDIT: never mind, can't read. Technically I suppose the code he wrote during that day belonged to the company in some way or another.