Sustainable OSS projects

At The Linux Foundation, we believe that the open source projects with sustainable ecosystems are the ones that matter, because they provide a codebase and security that can be relied on. And there’s a consistent pattern among these projects. First, developers create open source projects. Those projects are used in products, and value is created from those products. Finally, that value is reinvested into the projects.

This virtuous cycle defines sustainable open source projects, the kind that you see hosted at foundations like The Linux Foundation, Apache Software Foundation and others.

Many individuals and organisations don’t understand where their project stands though, and how to make sure it’s sustainable both now and in the future? That’s why we’ve released free resources to help anyone who wants to get involved in open source projects, and make those open source projects reach sustainability.

First, there’s a series of Open Source Guides for the Enterprise, created in partnership with the TODO Group. They’re designed to help organisations be successful in their open source participation, development and deployment. These guides can be downloaded for free at www.linuxfoundation.org/ resources/open-source-guides.

Next, the Community Health Analytics for Open Source Software (CHAOSS) Project. CHAOSS focuses on creating analytics and metrics to help define the health of an open source project community. Those who want to learn more or get involved can visit https://chaoss.community.

To be successful, open source projects require participation. I encourage everyone to take advantage of these resources, help improve them and create your own tools to ensure the community continues to grow and improve. Jim Zemlin is director of The Linux Foundation.