1 The case for OS

Chairs: Satish Murphy & Becca Krouse

2 Question

What is stopping people and companies from contributions in OS? Can we define the case for contributing to OS?

R’s core is released on a copyleft GPL license, so there are concerns around any additions we make being required to publish back to the community. This is a concern for companies that are not in the business of selling software, but rather use software as a tool to do their business.
Python is seen as less of risk, as it is released via permissive licence
Is there really a legal risk for copy-left licences, and if so under what circumstances? (e.g. using it internally for a plot vs making and selling an app or algorithm that uses the copyleft dependency)
Can we understand better how IP is protected in OS?

When using an internal package in a filing, we can package it directly as part of the study code and give to the FDA - which is seen as less of a risk than publishing it as OS where the global community can view the code.
Folks often want to contribute - but there are some limitations both professionally (e.g. internal process to contribute) and personally
If someone works on a project in their own time, there is a concern that treated is a company asset even though they are doing it outside of working hours. What is the actual boundary between work and personal contributions?
People making the policies need to actually understand the topic of OS

We know the liability is similar between OS and proprietary software, but there is a perception that all OS is more risky

OS contributions are seen as nice to have - how can this be prioritised vs project work?
Be involved in projects like Oak, NEST and admiral brings recognition to the contributors
Often projects are mostly driven by a handful, or even a couple, of people. What if someone leaves? Is OS actually a benefit here as same developer could promote and lead to use of the package at their new company?
Write up a short post / article titled “Here’s why you should allow your people to contribute to open source”
Write a blog post and short PDF that can be shared internally at the leadership level

Create a framework to help articulate the benefit, and help to tackle the concerns/process that gets in the way