Linux Foundation Summit, Dublin, 2022 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y1O7NPiGM4 Maslow’s Hammer refers to the adage that if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Non-profits serve open source project communities in very particular ways. Creating non-profits to support the community’s work takes skill and thoughtfulness, often as much as the work building the community itself around the project. The successful creation of the non-profit structure can lead to the next wave of growth for the community. An unhealthy non-profit is a drain on everyone’s energy. This talk provides a framework for understanding how a non-profit solves certain inescapable problems that successful open source project communities encounter in their growth. It provides practices and processes and tools to engage partners in creating successful non-profits. It looks at a number of real world examples. Anti-patterns are presented along the way.

1. Avoiding Maslow’s Hammer:
Or the problem of the Birmingham
Screwdriver in Open Source Non-profits
Stephen R. Walli
Open Source Ecosystem Team, Azure Office of the CTO

2. 10/19/22 3

3. 10/19/22 4

4. I’m worried …
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5. … Because I’ve been doing this a while now
• IEEE Founding member P1003 Project Management Committee (1990-1999)
• Technical Director, Outercurve Foundation (2010-2013)
”The Rise and Evolution of the Open Source Software Foundation” (with Paula Hunter)
• Linux Foundation
• Microsoft Board alternate (current)
• Founding member, Open Container Initiative, (2015-2017)
• Founding member, Board Chair, Confidential Computing Consortium, (2019-2022)
• Founding member, Treasurer, eBPF Foundation, (2019-2022)
• Mentoring Microsoft members in LF Energy, the Green Software Foundation, OpenSSF
• Eclipse Foundation
• Microsoft Board member (2021-2022)
• Founding member, Steering Committee Chair, Software Defined Vehicle WG, (2021-2022)
• IEEE WG Chair, P3190, Recommended Practices for OSS Projects (2022)
• Along the way ISO, ECMA, OCP, LF Cloud Foundry, OpenStack, LF Open Manufacturing
Platform (and JDF), and OMG/Digital Twin Consortium …
• [Almost] all the engagement has been from a product management perspective
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6. Acceleration …

7. Starting to see cracks in the foundations …
• Linux Foundation directed funds, Eclipse Foundation working groups,
and Apache Software Foundation board
• New non-profits/projects/sub-foundations are also struggling to
‘establish governance’
• And the desire to merge ‘specifications work’ with ‘open source work’
is creating its own challenges in clashing economic and engineering
cultures
• There is an immediate desire to reach for governance discussions …
and a naivete that somehow this is about establishing voting systems
• Cue the trusty presentations …

8. Transparency
(Clear communications, No back channels)

9. “Chop wood and carry water”
(Bias for doing work)

10. Respect, Diversity, Inclusion
(Codes of Conduct)
https://www.contributor-covenant.org/

11. Ask Not What Your Community
Can Do For You

12. There is NO Community
Except for the one you build

13. How does an open source project work?
What is the purpose of an open source non-profit?

14. How does an open source project work?
Because a non-profit can’t ‘fix’ a project
What is the purpose of an open source non-profit?
Because non-profit governance isn’t project culture

15. Maintainers Share Innovation Outbound
Maintainers
+
Working
Code
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There can be no
expectation of anything
in return
Projects have culture;
Governance is the
documentation of that
(software) culture

16. Building Community Captures Innovation Inbound
Developers
Maintainers
+
Working
Code
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Contributors
There can be no
expectation of anything
in return, but building on-ramps
can enable and encourage
contribution
Communities can evolve
their governance, or
maintain an evolving
culture (e.g., Kubernetes
vs Linux)

17. With enough ‘activity’ you can build an ecosystem
Developers
Users
Maintainers
+
Working
Code
Books
Contractors
Products
Distributions
Consulting
Training
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18. Henrik Ingo’s Number Crunch (2010)
http://openlife.cc/blogs/2010/november/how-grow-your-open-source-project-10x-and-revenues-5x
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
Fall 2021 19

19. Somehow, Non-profits have a purpose
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20. Maintainer(s)
Contributors
Community
Ecosystem
Project
Products
Services
Books
Training
The Evolution of an Open Source Project
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
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21. Maintainers
Contributors
Community
Ecosystem
Project
Products
Services
Books
Training
Corporate
Contributors
Customers
The Evolution of an Open Source Project
Personal
Liability
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
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22. Maintainers
Contributors
Community
Ecosystem
Project
Products
Services
Books
Training
Corporate
Contributors
Customers
The Evolution … stops
Personal
Liability
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
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23. Maintainers
Contributors
Community
Ecosystem
Project
Products
Services
Books
Training
Corporate
Contributors
Customers
A Non-Profit Enables The Next Evolution
IP Neutrality,
Liability Management
http://www.ifosslr.org/ifosslr/article/view/64
Business Management,
Marketing, Events
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
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24. Engineering/
Partner?/
Customer?/
Maintainers
Engineering/
Partner?/
Customer?/
Contributors
Community
Ecosystem
Project
Products
Services
Books
Training
Partner/Customer
Contributors
The Evolution of a Corporate Owned Open Source Project
Setting Customer and Partner Expectations in Community is Critical
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
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25. Engineering/
Partner?/
Customer?/
Maintainers
Engineering/
Partner?/
Customer?/
Contributors
Community
Ecosystem
Project
Products
Services
Books
Training
Engineering
Partner/Customer
Contributors
The Modern Reality of a Corporate Open Source Project
Setting Customer and Partner Expectations in Community is Critical
?
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
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Strategic

26. Engineering/
Partner?/
Customer?/
Competitors?/
Maintainers
Engineering/
Partner?/
Customer?/
Competitors?/
Contributors
Community
Ecosystem
Project
Products
Services
Books
Training
Partners/Competitors
Contributors
The Modern Reality of Corporate Strategic Open Source
Collaboration
Setting Collaborator Expectations in Community is Critical
?
EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
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27. Project Growth Hits a Natural Ceiling
Building the
Software
Sharing Innovation
Outbound
Building the
Community
Capturing Innovation Inbound
Two Problems Naturally Occur in the Wild:
1. Personal liability becomes a problem for
Maintainers
2. Companies engaging to consume/contribute
need more ownership stability/neutrality
and provenance
Two Different Problems Occur With Industry
Partners:
1. The originating company may* need to
signal neutrally (giving up asset control) via
a neutral non-profit third party
2. Partners may need anti-trust protections in
place to hold discussions
* Context projects don’t need to do this
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28. Solve for these problems with Non-profits
(A Third Set of Activities Distinct from Project Engineering and Community Building)
Building the
Software
(Sharing Innovation
Outbound)
Building the Community
(Capturing Innovation Inbound)
Building the Non-profit
(Remove Risk, Hold Assets,
Collect and Distribute Funds,
Anchor the message)
10/19/22 29

29. Cultures and Practices
(Project Engineering, Community Building, Non-profit Management)
Building the
Software
(Sharing Innovation
Outbound)
Building the Community
(Capturing Innovation Inbound)
Building the Non-profit
(Remove Risk, Hold Assets, Collect and Distribute
Funds, Anchor the message)
10/19/22 30
A culture of
enabling work
Document the
activities/practices
that make it easy to
use and build the
project, and how
project decisions
are made
A culture of enabling contribution
Document the additional activities, practices,
organizational structures, values that make it
easy to participate, contribute, make
(community) decisions, etc.
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new participants successful and enable their
growth within the community
A culture of promoting stability
Outline the fiduciary responsibility of the
organizational members and document the
non-profit scope & mission, and document
the activities, practices, structures, values,
and how non-profit decisions are made
A culture of organizational responsibility
Manage how organizational work gets done
(members vs staff, FTE vs contract)
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new members successful and enable their
growth within the non-profit

30. Cultures and Practices (THE MONEY SLIDE)
(Project Engineering, Community Building, Non-profit Management)
Building the
Software
(Sharing Innovation
Outbound)
Building the Community
(Capturing Innovation Inbound)
Building the Non-profit
(Remove Risk, Hold Assets, Collect and Distribute
Funds, Anchor the message)
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A culture of
enabling work
Document the
activities/practices
that make it easy to
use and build the
project, and how
project decisions
are made
A culture of enabling contribution
Document the additional activities, practices,
organizational structures, values that make it
easy to participate, contribute, make
(community) decisions, etc.
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new participants successful and enable their
growth within the community
A culture of promoting stability
Outline the fiduciary responsibility of the
organizational members and document the
non-profit scope & mission, and document
the activities, practices, structures, values,
and how non-profit decisions are made
A culture of organizational responsibility
Manage how organizational work gets done
(members vs staff, FTE vs contract)
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new members successful and enable their
growth within the non-profit

31. Cultures and Practices (THE MONEY SLIDE)
(Project Engineering, Community Building, Non-profit Management)
Building the
Software
(Sharing Innovation
Outbound)
Building the Community
(Capturing Innovation Inbound)
Building the Non-profit
(Remove Risk, Hold Assets, Collect and Distribute
Funds, Anchor the message)
10/19/22 32
A culture of
enabling work
Document the
activities/practices
that make it easy to
use and build the
project, and how
project decisions
are made
A culture of enabling contribution
Document the additional activities, practices,
organizational structures, values that make it
easy to participate, contribute, make
(community) decisions, etc.
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new participants successful and enable their
growth within the community
A culture of promoting stability
Outline the fiduciary responsibility of the
organizational members and document the
non-profit scope & mission, and document
the activities, practices, structures, values,
and how non-profit decisions are made
A culture of organizational responsibility
Manage how organizational work gets done
(members vs staff, FTE vs contract)
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new members successful and enable their
growth within the non-profit
Project Community
L
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g
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S
t
r
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t
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e

32. Long-term infinite game culture is a requirement for
success – which requires trust
10/19/22 33
Any competitive (finite game) behavior breaks trust
Absolute transparency and avoiding competitive
conflicts of interest builds integrity so builds trust
Culture, Infinite Games, and Trust

33. Adding New Projects and/or Sub-‘Foundations’
(What are the structural, legal, fiduciary relationships)
Adding New ‘Foundations’
(Remove Risk, Hold Assets, Collect and Distribute
Funds, Anchor the message)
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A culture of promoting stability
Outline the responsibilities of the
organizational members and document the
processes that create the organizational sub-
structures and the activities, practices,
structures, values, and how the sub-unit
decisions are made
A culture of organizational responsibility
Manage how organizational work gets done
(members vs staff, FTE vs contract), risk & liability are
handled in the sub-structure
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new members successful and enable their
growth within the non-profit

34. N.B. At no time have I mentioned ‘growth’ as a goal
10/19/22 35

35. EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
Fall 2021 36

36. EN.601.270: Open Source Software Engineering
Fall 2021 37

38. These Landscape Top-Line Metrics Aren’t Meaningful …
These Metrics are focused on revenue growth …
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“You are viewing 1,143 cards with a total of 3,305,737
stars, market cap of $20.7T and funding of $53.2B.”

39. Cultures and Practices
(Project Engineering, Community Building, Non-profit Management)
Building the
Software
(Sharing Innovation
Outbound)
Building the Community
(Capturing Innovation Inbound)
Building the Non-profit
(Remove Risk, Hold Assets, Collect and Distribute
Funds, Anchor the message)
10/19/22 40
A culture of
enabling work
Document the
activities/practices
that make it easy to
use and build the
project, and how
project decisions
are made
A culture of enabling contribution
Document the additional activities, practices,
organizational structures, values that make it
easy to participate, contribute, make
(community) decisions, etc.
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new participants successful and enable their
growth within the community
A culture of promoting stability
Outline the fiduciary responsibility of the
organizational members and document the
non-profit scope & mission, and document
the activities, practices, structures, values,
and how non-profit decisions are made
A culture of organizational responsibility
Manage how organizational work gets done
(members vs staff, FTE vs contract)
A culture of mentoring (new) members
Make new members successful and enable their
growth within the non-profit

40. Q&A
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