FOSS Guardrails: Contribution Policy

When drafting an open-source contribution policy, there are several key considerations to ensure the policy aligns with the organization's objectives, legal requirements, and community expectations. Here are some important factors to consider, I present them in form of questions to get you going ?

Goals and Open Source Strategy*

Are you trying to drive innovation ?

Are you trying to attract talent ?

Are you trying to gain visibility in the community ?

Scope of Contribution

Should contributions be limited to specific domains relevant to the company’s products?

Is there broader encouragement for all open-source engagement?

Legal and IP Considerations

Are you sure that contributions don’t compromise the company’s proprietary code, patents, or trade secrets?

What licenses are allowed under which contributions can be made (e.g., GPL, MIT, Apache) ?

Are the terms of licenses reviewed and approved by legal team ?

Do you need a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) ?

What are CLA signing process for outbound contributions for various projects ?

Internal Approval Process

Have you defined a clear internal workflow for approving contributions ? This may involve legal, management, or engineering oversight to ensure compliance with company policies.

Who is authorized to make contributions ?

Who owns contributions made during work hours or using company resources ?

Security and Quality

How do you ensure contributions are meeting project-specific quality standards ?

Do you have peer-reviews, static code scans, security scans policy to execute before making contributions ?

Training and Awareness

How do you plan to train teams on these practices and processes

Is there a plan to promote a culture of open-source engagement by encouraging employees to contribute to relevant projects and join open-source communities ?

How do you promote responsible engagement in open-source communities, adherence to Code Of conduct?

Is it important to contribute value rather than just extracting benefits ?

Are the contributions meaningful and of use to the open-source ecosystem ?

Transparency

Is your policy Upstream First Policy ?

What is the criteria for contributions to be publicly shared in forums or conferences ?

If an internal project is to be open sourced, Do you have a structured process in place for review, legal clearance, and proper documentation?

Recognition

How do you plan to recognize employees for their contributions to open-source projects?

Are you considering allowing dedicated time (e.g., 20% of work hours) to contribute to open source as part of regular work?

Collaboration

How do you plan to engage with other companies, foundations, or open-source projects ?

If the company participates in industry standards bodies (e.g., Linux Foundation), how engagements with such groups will be handled ?

If you answer these questions, you can create a well-rounded and compliant open-source contribution policy to support both business and the wider open-source community.