Open Source Sustainability
= can have two different meaning, i.e. financial/industrial/community sustainability vs. 'ecological' sustainability
Industrial Sustainability
Material from a special issue of TIM Review on the topic.
Definition
Repetto [1]:
"Open source sustainability is the recognition and drive to manage all assets, and resources related to open source development, including the broader financial and physical assets in order to increase the long-term vibrancy and well-being of a project (and ecosystem). Sustainable development of open source, as a goal, rejects policies and practices that support current adoption and development in the short-term without regard for how this may deplete the productive base, including all resources, and that leaves future communities with poorer prospects." (http://books.google.ca/books?id=HdUkfQQxu38C)
Contributing Factors
Chris McPhee:
"What are the relevant concerns that participants of an open source ecosystem must be aware of when they decide to collaborate on an open source project? I have framed an initial understanding of eight factors that influence open source sustainability.
Open development process
Most of the authors of this issue would argue that an open source development process is just as important as keeping the code open source. Many of the articles touch on this implicitly, but Ingram and Arikan (in this issue) show how, in the case of openEHR, an open process becomes necessary. If a universal electronic health record is ever to emerge and sustain itself over time, then keeping only the code alone does not allow the type and depth of co-creation and expertise-sharing necessary to build an accountable and legitimate system.
License promiscuity
Depending on the needs of a particular project (and these will vary from organization to organization), it has been argued that, if the license is more rather than less permissive, then the project has better chance of survival. Asay (in this issue) who has many years of experience of open source software adoption and management in commercial organizations, persuades us that an Apache-style license is conducive to sustainability in an open source ecosystem because it entirely frees the code and the creator. In contrast, the General Public License (GPL) demands greater reciprocity and, with companies becoming more experienced with open source co-creation and adoption, it has become a less attractive license. Given that companies are now playing a very relevant role in sustaining open source projects, perhaps greater consideration should be paid to the topic of license promiscuity .
Adaptable and innovative business models
Companies that moved into the open source arena very early on were typically motivated by strategic purposes rather than profit. Traditional business models did not apply, and it took organizations some years before open source could be exploited with clear and novel business models. As more companies and the public sector take deeper interest in open source, the business models we have to take advantage of this phenomenon and innovation need to be adapted accordingly – and fast. Sustainability is indeed more about changing rather than just change, as Curto-Millet (in this issue) explains.
Community
Most would agree that sustainability in open source means sustainability of the pool of developers that contribute to the code. But, how is a community kept healthy and vibrant, and more importantly, what is considered by ecosystem participants to be a sign of good health in a community? Crowston and colleagues (in this issue) explain that communities must manage recruitment with great care to keep themselves sustainable. However, we also note a change in attitude towards what amounts to a contribution in open source by a community. In the very early days, a contribution needed to be code-related, but with a growing diversity in ecosystem participants (both consumers and producers), there is a growing awareness of the value of other types of contributions, which can be as simple as just passing on the message about an open source project. This realization indicates a change in the nature of how and what we conceptualize as a community and as a valid contribution.
Open governance and accountable management
Different forms of governing an ecosystem, community, and organization lead to different outcomes. As Noori and Weiss (in this issue) argue, it is important for the long-term survival of an open source project and platform to adopt a governance style that changes and grows as the needs of the community change. This can be linked to Schweik’s (in this issue) breakdown of a project lifecycle as stages of initiation and growth. How at each stage (and its variations) does governance become more governing-like and thus better able to manage change, growth, and then long-term sustainability over time? Flexibility may be the key to meeting these challenges, and as Curto-Millet (in this issue) argues, we therefore need to take a more process-oriented perspective.
Forking
Forking is often seen as a necessary evil in open source, but Nyman and Lindman (in this issue) show us another way to make sense of this process. They show that through governance and management at the levels of software, community and ecosystem, the right to fork can build greater strength and sustainability for the future.
Open source foundations
Open source foundations have had a presence for some while, but only recently has wide appreciation been given to their rather important role in keeping projects together by informing the community about various issues, offering legal protection, and providing governance through the development and implementation of rules and regulations. The number of foundations has grown, and Ingram and Arikan (in this issue) offer some possible causes for this change through their own example of openEHR and Opereffa. Sustainability in open source projects does imply abiding by some form of regulations, standards, and codes of practice, all of which could slow the early stages of growth in a project. However, sustainability is not just about short-term thinking. In the long-term, Ingram and Arikan feel that some broader body of templates, archetypes, and rules will provide the infrastructure for a more sustainable open source project.
Ecosystem sustainability
Several of the articles in this issue move between sustainability at the levels of community, platform, and ecosystem. It can be argued that, because many projects are now built using a platform concept, to allow for an ecosystem to emerge around the code and participants, we need to be more focused on ecosystem sustainability rather than just sustainable communities." (http://timreview.ca/article/643)
Ecological Sustainability
Examples
- Appropedia[2] - wiki for sustainability and international development
- The Eco-Patent_Commons [3]
- Open Sustainability Network[4]