This document discusses collaboration between individuals, companies, and communities in open source software projects. It addresses how individuals can contribute to projects, how companies can contribute resources and employees to projects, and how communities are made up of individuals. It then discusses strategies and plans for companies to contribute to open source, including aligning with business goals, identifying existing projects to contribute to, allocating resources, and measuring success. The document provides guidance on how companies can become good open source citizens, such as starting with small contributions, learning from feedback, and upstreaming patches. It emphasizes maintaining relationships with communities and attending events.

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OSS Collaboration and
Companies: Finding the
Right Balance
OpenUK Future Leaders’ Training 2020
Dr. Dawn M. Foster
Director of OSS Community Strategy
fosterd@vmware.com fastwonderblog.com
Open Source at VMware @vmwopensource
blogs.vmware.com/opensource

2. ©2020 VMware, Inc. @geekygirldawn 2
whoami
• Geek, traveler, reader
• 20+ year tech career focused on
community & open source
(Intel, Puppet, Scale Factory, …)
• PhD from the University of Greenwich
focus on Linux kernel collaboration
• OpenUK Board, CHAOSS Governing
Board and Maintainer, Bitergia Advisory
Board
Photos by Mom, Josh Bancroft, Don Park

3. ©2020 VMware, Inc. @geekygirldawn
Collaboration in OSS Projects:
individuals, companies, and
communities

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Contributions
Leadership
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Individuals

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Employees Contribute
Recruiting
Resources
5
Companies
Image by The Linux Foundation CC BY

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Community = People
Small World
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Communities

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Contribution Strategy
and Plans

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Align with business goals
Execs understand importance
Employees see their impact
Image by Nick Youngston, Alpha Stock Images CC BY-SA
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Contribution Strategy and Plans

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Already Use
Existing Contributions
Image by Colleen Simon for Opensource.com CC BY-SA
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Which Open Source Projects?

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Grow vs. Hire
Funding for Membership
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Resources Required

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Guidelines / Processes
OSS Program Office
Image by Nick Youngston, Alpha Stock Images CC BY-SA
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Resources Required

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Criteria for Success
Data Required (CHAOSS)
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Measure Success

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Making Contributions as a
Good Corporate Citizen

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Join
Read the Docs
Lurk & Understand
Start Small
Image by Filip Maljković CC BY-SA
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Getting Started

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Avoid Getting Defensive
May Need to Iterate
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Learn from Feedback

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Paperwork
Submit
Reviews and Feedback
Resubmit
Merge
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Steps Toward Making a Contribution
Image by Paul McCoubrie CC BY-ND 2.0

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Discuss Changes
Early and Often
Lack of Control
Image by The Linux Foundation CC BY
17
Work with the Community

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Attend Events
Get to Know People
Image by The Linux Foundation CC BY
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Relationships

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Reduces Your Overhead
Benefits the Community
Right Thing to Do
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Upstream your Patches

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Small Contributions vs.
Large Contributions
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Maintenance Expectations

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No Dumping
Maintenance
Community
Image by C. Watts CC BY
21
Open Sourcing Your Software

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Linux Foundation’s TODO Group
https://todogroup.org/guides/
GitHub
https://opensource.guide
opensource.com
https://opensource.com/
resources
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Resources
Photo by Abhi Sharma - CC BY 2.0

23. @geekygirldawn©2020 VMware, Inc.
Dr. Dawn M. Foster
fosterd@vmware.com
fastwonderblog.com
Open Source at VMware
blogs.vmware.com/opensource
@vmwopensource
23
Thank You!