Innersource is a methodology that applies open source development techniques within a corporation, promoting collaboration and code reuse among teams. Companies adopt innersource to improve documentation and code quality while navigating challenges like team turnover and project management. Successful implementation requires visibility, documentation, automated testing, and collaboration between multiple teams.

1. InnerSourceSubtitles considered include:
• The first step towards open sourcing company software
• Bringing the best of open source into your workplace
• Encouraging cross-team collaboration in the enterprise
• “Oh look, Eric’s gone corporate…”
Minnebar 2017

2. What We’ll Cover
Now is a great time to vote with
your feet, in case I’m not talking
about the topic you wanted to hear.
What is InnerSource?
This idea has been “named” since 2000. That’s the same
year the following movies were released: X-Men,
Memento, Gladiator, Remember the Titans and Almost
Famous. That was a really good year for movies…
1
Why not just be Open Source?
This isn’t just some trendy schtick that “Mr. Corporate” uses
to recruit people from startups. Because if I hear “We do
DevOps” one more time…
2
Who is actually doing this?
Sure this all sounds well & good, but so did the movie Bio-
Dome! I’ll take a swing at proving the reality now that
we’ve talked about the philosophy.
3
How do I get started?
I’ll cover the basic fundamentals for getting started, as well
as how you can identify some of the ideal catalysts for
gaining momentum.
4
Where are there dragons?
Finally I’ll talk about some of the common approaches &
known hurdles that you’ll face, because knowing is half the
battle.
5

3. Eric Caron
I run the API team at Best Buy, and dabble in our Rapid
Prototyping labs. Before being at Best Buy, I spent 10 years in
local startups (LinkUp & TrackIf).
I’m married & have two sons. Here I’m introducing them to
my He-Man collection. Some of the toys aged well, others
likely scarred me in ways I don’t yet recognize…
me@ericcaron.com&
www.ericcaron.com
Who am I?

4. What is InnerSource?
Using open source development
techniques within the corporation,
or with a cluster of key
customers--even if they aren't
ready to take the step all the way
to releasing their software as a
public open source project.
Yet another term Tim O’Reilly coined,
mentioning it in passing on a mailing list
back in 2000…

6. InnerSource is about DRY
In theory we all like code re-use.
We also like Linus’ Law:
“Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.”
!
Why do companies adopt InnerSource?
What motivates developers?

7. InnerSource is about
collaboration & mentorship
You know that warm fuzzy feeling when one of your
PRs get approved on a GitHub project that you like
but didn’t write?
Imagine giving that feeling to your co-workers.
"

8. InnerSource is about
better code &
better documentation
Ever committed to your production servers
without including a unit test? Me neither…
Ever committed to an open source project
without including a unit test? Me neither.
#

9. Why not just Open Source the project?
InnerSource doesn’t always mean
“not open source”.
Just “not open source yet”.
Protip: Design your project from the beginning with the
possibility of becoming public open source - there’s really no
downside to that mindset.

10. Why not just Open Source the project?
Does it contain intellectual property?
Does it define your competitive advantage?
Odds are that it doesn’t. But having that conversation up front and in the open
establishes a meaningful foundation for the future of that project.

11. Why not just Open Source the project?
Open sourcing a project reflects on your brand and
comes with extra baggage you might not be ready to
carry.
Ever started using an open source project that gets discontinued? Or was taken down
because of #legalFun?
Those negative vibes have an impact on your company’s brand and its ability to recruit.
Plus before your organization dives into offering an open source project, check out
http://todogroup.org/ to learn from the best of the industry to make sure you do it right.

12. Who is actually doing this?
PayPal Nokia Autodesk Samsung
Capital One Walmart IBM Facebook (and all the
other common big ones
you’d typically see on a
page like this)

13. Some Great Quotes
“Staff have to change their habits from
complaining about bugs to going in and
making fixes.”
~Matt Edelman, PayPal
“If Agile & Scrube pay a price in
scalability, open source development
pays a price in speed.”
~Adam Oram, author
"Open source methods, when you apply
them well, force you to document and
formalize your process which can be a
very good thing"
~Camille Fournier, Rent The Runway CTO

14. Basic Fundamentals
$
Required: Visibility
The software project has to be in a place
where it is visible & discoverable to all
employees.
%
Required: Documentation
The conversation history for all decisions has to be
logged in a searchable place (e.g. GitHub issues,
mailing lists)

15. &
'
(
)
Required: Automated Testing
This is why non-UI stuff tends to be more common parts
of InnerSource. But you can’t scale & trust without having
automated testing around the entire project.
Required: SemVer
Trying to manage an InnerSource project
without proper versioning is a recipe to
have everyone revert to the old ways.
Required: 2+ Teams
It takes two to tango. For InnerSource, we’re
talking 2+.
Required: Issue Tracker
The project needs a way to handle known
issues and discuss things in flight.

16. 04 Common Approaches &
Known Hurdles
I’m sorry if I lead you to believe this was easy &
frictionless.

17. How do you deal with employee turnover?
• Don’t worry about it too much, so long as more
than 1 team is using the project
• Some organizations believe in funding a single
person to push InnerSource momentum. I’m not
a fan of this style
• You don’t need to worry about stagnation so
long as people are using the project
• You don’t need to worry about knowledge loss
so long as you abided by the documentation
requirement

18. Does this increase the #
of teams I have to support?
• For each project you operate under the
InnerSource model, yes
• In theory you aren’t the only team offering
InnerSource projects, and as other teams run
their own projects your TCO for all lines of code
decreases
• Having more people read, use and ask about
your code is a good thing

19. • Forking happens and is much a concern as it is
with open source projects
• You’re going to have in-person conversations,
just make sure they’re always followed-up on
the mailing lists or in your issue tracking
• There is actually value in it, because if they
same style of request/question comes up
multiple times it likely means there’s a
fundamental design flaw
What if two teams want to take the project
in different directions?

20. How to get
management support?
• Start simple & use existing resources
• Piggy back on this being #openSourceLight
• Point out the financing model & overall
reduction of lines-of-code owned-by-developer
(LoCObD if you like acryonyms)
• There is tons of great management-style
material on the web on this topic (CHARTS
CHARTS CHARTS) that demonstrate the
business value this brings. I have a link on my
references slide

21. References
Getting Started with InnerSource
O’Reilly has a great free 22 page PDF that goes
deeper into philosophy & implementation.
*
InnerSource Commons
PayPal maintains a great wiki about the
whole movement and patterns to follow.
+
Boss Reading Material
InfoQ has a really deep dive into the factors
at play, the politics and the financial case.

Dr. Dobbs 2000 Paper
Sometimes it is nice to be reminded that not
all of problems are new. (Sometimes it isn’t.)
-
Black Duck’s Piece on Next Steps
A fan static article describing the legal
nuances and steps to stay sfe.
.
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