Why not publish it anonymously?

If there's actual employer IP in there then just leaving said employer wouldn't magically clear it.

If there isn't and you're just trying to avoid red tape, then publishing it anonymously would work around the issue.

I feel like it'd be kinda a jerk move to contribute anonymously when you know that might create an IP issue for an open source project. Even if the code truly has no IP issue, legal attention from an litigious company would likely be devastating to even a well resourced project.

Well the idea is that you determine the intention of the “IP issue” and act accordingly:

If there is an actual IP issue then even waiting after you’re out of the company will not resolve said IP issue. If you’re using your employer’s IP then waiting is unlikely (both legally and especially morally) to magically resolve it - it’s still your employer’s IP.

If it’s just to avoid red tape but otherwise the IP is yours and has nothing to do with your employer (aka you could’ve done it just as well even if you weren’t at your current employer, and your employer’s competitive advantage is not based on having a good WebDAV implementation) then it should be fine and you’re just taking a shortcut to save time on both sides.

Basically, if your employer is a vendor of WebDAV libraries, yeah of course there’s a (legal, or a least moral) issue. If not, then all fine.

(Obviously this is just opinion and not legal advice - but legality only matters if they can figure out who did it ;)

I think the situation your missing is when the employer has a much much more aggressive stance to IP. Even if you are 100% confident that your contribution doesn't violate your employer's IP, they can still sue and ruin your life.

Some employers have an unbelievably unreasonable interpretation of non-compete and IP. They think they own everything their employees do, and even though they're wrong. That doesn't stop them from ruining you and whatever unfortunate open source project they set their sights on with vexatious litigation.

> they can still sue and ruin your life.

Thus the suggestion to publish anonymously.

I think it is unwise for a maintainer to accept anonymous contributions.