book

Investing in Open Source: The FOSS Contributor Fund

by Duane O’Brien, Mandy Grover

November 2021

Intermediate to advanced

48 pages

58m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Introduction
Getting Involved in Funding Open SourceThe FOSS Contributor FundThe FOSS Fund Blueprint
1. Project Eligibility
Project UsageProject License ListLesson Learned: Don’t Keep a Rigid Project ListProject FundingLesson Learned: Don’t Fund Projects That Haven’t Requested FundingLesson Learned: Don’t Fund Projects That Have Strong Corporate BackingProject OwnershipLesson Learned: Avoid Employee-Owned ProjectsRecent AwardsProject ReputationIndeed: Finding Flexibility in Project CriteriaDiscovering Projects at Indeed
2. Voter Eligibility
Voter Eligibility Goals and BehaviorsYour Criteria Will Have Effects Within Your OrganizationHacktoberfest ExampleThe Behaviors You Encourage Will Have Effects Beyond Your Organization Sentry ExampleKubernetes ExampleEncouraging Open Source ParticipationLessons Learned: Don’t Limit Who Can NominateBuilding Organizational ExpertiseBuilding Program EngagementShowing Up AuthenticallyRespect the ProjectTrust the VotersDo Better Next TimeIndeed: A Broad View of Voter Eligibility
3. Funding Amounts
How Much Do You Have?$100,000 or More$20,000–$100,000$10,000 or LessHow Often Do You Vote?Monthly VotingQuarterly VotingOne-Off VotingIndeed: Experimenting with Budget and Voting CadenceOther Ways to FundSalesforceMicrosoft
4. Voting Framework
How Do I Further Curate Eligible Nominations?Curating for VolumeCurating for CultureCurating for Legal ConsiderationsHow Do I Get the Word Out About Participating in the FOSS Fund?What Tools Can I Use to Make the Entire Process More Efficient?Hosted Polling SystemChat-Hosted PollsHosted Survey FormsIn-Person VotingIndeed: Finding a Framework That Works for UsOther Ways to VoteJohns Hopkins University
5. Iteration
Frequent IterationsDon’t Change Big Things FrequentlyDon’t Worry About Small ErrorsInfrequent IterationsDon’t Make Changes Without Clear IntentionDon’t Read Too Much into the DataIndeed: Deciding When to Make Changes
6. Blueprint Implementation
Securing FundingCommunicationVoter IdentificationHow Can I Identify Voters Who Aren’t on GitHub?VotingCondorcet Internet Voting ServiceSlack PollsPaymentIteration
7. Beyond the FOSS Fund
Should We Focus on Funding Projects or Funding People?How Can a FOSS Fund Help You Invest in Your Open Source at Scale?How Can Internship and Fellowship Programs Bring New Maintainers into Projects?More Questions
About the Authors

Content preview from Investing in Open Source: The FOSS Contributor Fund

About the Authors

Duane O’Brien leads the vision for open source at Indeed. He manages the people, policies, and ideas to grow open source participation within the company. He loves telling the story of open source through collaboration and conversation. Duane is a force of chaotic good using his high stats in intelligence and charisma to advocate for the open source community. If you encounter him in forested areas, he will share his fire, drink, and philosophy.

Mandy Grover helps technical leaders at Indeed communicate effectively. She is a Technical Content Architect and manages a team within the Technical Content organization. She loves bringing orderly writing out of the idea cloud and developing frameworks for producing and consuming content at scale. In her free time, she collects vintage clown art and works as a consulting detective.

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ISBN: 9781098111915

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Investing in Open Source: The FOSS Contributor Fund

by Duane O’Brien, Mandy Grover

About the Authors

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.