Open Source Contribution Policies That Don’t Suck

A presentation at OpenChain Webinar by Tobie Langel

Open source contribution policies that don’t suck!

Open source contribution policies that don’t suck!

Do you have an open source policy?

Do you have an open source policy?

What does not having a policy mean?

What does not having a policy mean?

What does having a policy mean?

What does having a policy mean?

What is a policy that doesn’t suck? (Engineering perspective)

What is a policy that doesn’t suck? (Engineering perspective)

What is a policy that doesn’t suck? (Legal perspective*)

What is a policy that doesn’t suck? (Legal perspective*)

What is a policy that doesn’t suck? (Business perspective)

What is a policy that doesn’t suck? (Business perspective)

At the heart is a tension

At the heart is a tension

Coming to agreement

Coming to agreement

What is a policy really about?

What is a policy really about?

Using open source

Using open source

Using open source

Using open source

Contributing open source

Contributing open source

Contributing open source

Contributing open source

“How does your employer's IP agreement/policy affect your free-time contributions to open source unrelated to your work?”

“How does your employer's IP agreement/policy affect your free-time contributions to open source unrelated to your work?”

 Why so much confusion?

Why so much confusion?

The common solution: ask for permission

The common solution: ask for permission

The better solution: BEIPA

The better solution: BEIPA

Contributing at work

Contributing at work

Contributing at work

Contributing at work

Releasing open source at work

Releasing open source at work

Patching open source at work

Patching open source at work

Turn your policy into an app!

Turn your policy into an app!

Turn your policy into an app!

Turn your policy into an app!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Open source contribution policies are long, boring, overlooked documents, that generally suck. They’re designed to protect the company at all costs. But in the process, end up hurting engineering productivity, and morale. Sometimes they even unknowingly put corporate IP at risk.

But that’s not inevitable.

It’s possible to write open source contribution policies that make engineers lives easier, boost morale and productivity, reduce attrition, and attract new talent. And it’s possible to do so while reducing the company’s IP risk, not increasing it.

In this talk, we’ll look at the general structure of contribution policies, examples in the wild, and tactics to make them suck less.

We’ll also look at how to turn these policies into self-service software, preventing the tedious email back and forth between engineering and legal in most cases and making open source contribution a breeze.

Resources

The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.