Three Pillars Of Open Source Governance

Open source software has morphed from its underground DIY roots to become a common tool that runs essential parts of many businesses. In turn, commercial companies have sprung up around open source projects. These companies make money offering updates, support, and services.

The intersection of open source and commercial interests raises questions about authority, authenticity, and culture.

Is the project driven by the commercial sponsor or outside contributors? Will commercial interests trump the wishes of the community? How and where do you draw lines between a commercial entity and the open source community?

These issues are real. As open source becomes more essential to everyone's hardware and software stacks, thoughtful and dedicated action is required.

At Chef, we believe three guiding principles can help address these questions while keeping both commercial organizations and the open source community thriving.

Besides benefiting the community, these principles can also help facilitate even more enterprise adoption of open source software.

1. Transparency is key
It is imperative for open source communities and the host companies that are built around them and that work with them be transparent.

Communities worry that a company will step on its toes, while a company may fear backlash from the community. Transparency solves these woes.

When issues arise, discuss them. When remedies need to be taken, publicize those actions. Blogs, IRC, mailing lists, discussion forums, and collaborative source code sharing sites such as GitHub are great places for transparent discussions.

2. Set governance parameters
With a commitment to transparency, community leaders can build policies and codes of conduct to help govern the community. It's best to collaborate in the same way the community is used to working. If the community proposes software changes through RFCs, use RFCs when proposing changes to the community itself.

Allow the community to iterate on the RFC -- you can use meetings in IRC, allow changes to be proposed via GitHub, or hold a Google Hangout. Use whatever medium your community prefers to convene in -- the important thing is that you convene.

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There are a few commonly used governance guidelines in open source.

One is the code of conduct or community guidelines. Every community member is expected to follow these codes or guidelines when representing the project. The guidelines must outline acceptable behavior and should describe a procedure for handling incidents, such as when a community member acts inappropriately.

Next is a governance policy, which describes the management of the roadmap, structure, policies, and other pertinent details of the project. A governance policy may include calls for open participation, description of operations, and procedures for handling grievances.

Finally, the maintenance policy describes how decisions about the project are made. It may include the process by which proposed software updates are reviewed, agreed, and merged into the project.

3. Make every person successful
All constituents in an open source community have a significant role to play. It's important to make them successful in their roles and to recognize different sources of value.

There are a variety of roles in the realm of open source. They include:

Open source communities that practice transparency, encourage active participation, and recognize the contributions of all constituents are more likely to thrive, iterate, and strengthen the project.

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