Determining the True Openness of Open Source Projects
The motivation for writing this paper originated from various discussions evolving around what makes a project a true open source project beyond just the choice of license. People have different opinions and thoughts about the various indicators of a project’s openness. In this paper, we explore such indicators that together can help define the true openness of a given project and conclude with some recommended practices and other practices to avoid in an open source project, touching on a dozen different areas. We hope this paper becomes a trigger for new conversations in open source projects on how to be more open, transparent, and inclusive.
Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation is supported by more than 1,000 members and is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, open standards, open data, and open hardware. Linux Foundation’s projects are critical to the world’s infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, and more. The Linux Foundation’s methodology focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.
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