My understanding (based on second-hand knowledge) is that employees have two "choices" available to them:
* Have a "fairly flexible arrangement" to work on side projects when they want & potentially using Google hardware on work time but in exchange Google holds the copyright & it has to be published under the Google repo with the quoted disclaimer.
* Deal with a bunch more paperwork on per-project basis.
If people don't have a particularly strong attachment to their side-projects the first option is the "low hassle" option for flexibility to do side projects at work.
I would agree it is unfortunate developers don't push back harder against such a wanton "IP" grab by their employer--but hey, I guess that's what we get without collective representation or respecting our own value as developers.
* Have a "fairly flexible arrangement" to work on side projects when they want & potentially using Google hardware on work time but in exchange Google holds the copyright & it has to be published under the Google repo with the quoted disclaimer.
* Deal with a bunch more paperwork on per-project basis.
If people don't have a particularly strong attachment to their side-projects the first option is the "low hassle" option for flexibility to do side projects at work.
I would agree it is unfortunate developers don't push back harder against such a wanton "IP" grab by their employer--but hey, I guess that's what we get without collective representation or respecting our own value as developers.