An open approach: lessons learnt

by Gabriel Hanganu and Elena Blanco on 26 July 2012 , last updated

Introduction

As open source communities have matured, a number of lessons about effective online collaboration and project sustainability has emerged. Many of these lessons can be applied to academic project collaboration. This document highlights some of these lessons and illustrates them with video footage of OSS Watch interviews with open source leaders.

Editor’s note: The given affiliation for each of the speakers is the affiliation that was current at the time of interview. Where a speaker has moved on this is also noted.

Why take an open approach?

The development of the internet has created unprecedented opportunities for our natural inclination to work together. We are now able to collaborate effectively unhampered by space and time. Open source communities have developed efficient ways of coping with the challenges of online collaboration by streamlining their processes and making them resonate with our community building instincts.

Stephen Walli, Outercurve Foundation

The possibility of free online collaboration has arguably given rise to a ‘new age’ of participation. In this age, the tendency is to shift from a so-called ‘culture of approval’ to a ‘culture of moderation’. In a ‘culture of approval’ official membership and hierarchical approval are necessary in order to propose changes to an existing system. By contrast, in a ‘culture of moderation’ everyone is encouraged to openly contribute under the watchful eyes of the community, in the knowledge that the proposed changes can easily be reverted back if found to be unhelpful.

Gianugo Rabellino, Sourcesense (now Microsoft)

However, the freedom to collaborate online should not be taken for granted. It must be preserved and care should be taken to prevent one company or interest group from holding a monopoly over access to this open collaboration environment that is the internet.

Gerv Markham, Mozilla

How to make an open approach work

Community building is hard work, but is important for creating innovative and sustainable products. Different models can be successful; for example, the Apache Software Foundation has been successful in its approach of ‘Community over Code’, meaning that developing the community is deemed as important as writing the code.

Jim Jagielski, Apache Software Foundation

Attracting new contributors can be challenging, however. It is not easy to make that first contribution, so encouraging people to take that step is crucial.

Stormy Peters, Gnome Foundation (now at Mozilla)

Providing clear guidance on how new people can make contributions is essential for community building. A project should not shy away from expressing clearly what the community needs from new contributors.

Stephen Walli, Outercurve Foundation

It is important to realise that contributions are not always in the form of code. People that can contribute to the design or documentation are just as valuable and should be encouraged.

Noirin Plunkett, ASF Board (now at Eucalyptus)

Different people have different strengths and weaknesses, just as in a football team. By focussing on what people do best a project community will function like a well-oiled machine.

Bertrand Delacretaz, Day Software (now Adobe)

Processes and tools for an effective open approach

A project’s governance model can provide structure and elucidate a project’s roles and needs.

Jim Jagielski, Apache Software Foundation

A set of tools providing a quick feedback loop is essential for online collaboration. Developing skills to filter out important information from what is not relevant in the project communication stream will help contributors become effective.

Bertrand Delacretaz, Day Software (now Adobe)

The tools used for communication should be openly accessible. At a project level, this creates a sense of sharing and maintains awareness of what the various groups are doing across the project. Beyond the project team, open mailing lists allow outsiders to sample the internal dynamics of the project and to understand the various roles in the project.

Stormy Peters, Gnome Foundation (now at Mozilla)

The rewards of an open approach

People do not work for free; their motivations for contributing to open source projects are ultimately of a personal economic nature, even if this is not immediately obvious.

Stephen Walli, Outercurve Foundation

People get involved in open source projects because the overall benefits they get outweigh their contribution efforts.

Gianugo Rabellino, Sourcesense (now Microsoft)

There are challenges though. The feedback loop between users and developers can sometimes be affected by cultural and linguistic barriers.

Samuel Klein, Wikimedia Foundation

An open approach can facilitate innovation. Making the effort to expand horizons, for example by collaborating with business partners, is key for maximising the innovation potential of collaboration.

Roland Harwood, 100% Open

So what have we learnt from these open source leaders?

These interviews with the open source leaders illustrate the advice that OSS Watch has been giving for many years. Our top three tips for those taking an open approach are:

  • Work in the open iteratively and collectively, confident that any mistakes can be reverted and that rough versions will be polished by the community
  • Building community is hard work, but needs to be done to maximise the likelihood of achieving sustainability
  • Contributors remain engaged as long as the overall benefits outweigh the effort of contribution

Further Reading

Links:

Related information from OSS Watch