On licensing and other conditions for contributing to widely used open source projects

Abstract

Open source software (OSS) projects are provided under different open source licenses and some projects use other conditions (in addition to licensing terms) for contributors to adhere to. Licensing terms and conditions may affect community involvement and contributions, and are perceived differently by different stakeholders in different OSS projects. The study reports from an exploratory analysis of licensing terms and other conditions for 200 widely used OSS projects, and an investigation of the relationship between licensing terms and other conditions for contributing. We find that strong copyleft licenses are most common and are used in the majority of the projects. Further, a clear majority of the OSS projects use no specific other condition for contributing in addition to the license terms. However, a clear majority of the OSS projects supported by foundations use other conditions for contributing in addition to the license terms. Finally, use of no specific other conditions in addition to the license terms is more common for projects using strong copyleft licensing compared to projects using non-copyleft licensing.

Eight Observations and 24 Research Questions About Open Source Projects

“…As corporations engage with open source projects, prior studies describe how corporations make use of open source software [10-12, 15, 50] (diffusion), the organizational structures that emerge around open source projects with corporate engagement [16], and open source business models [21] (beyond software). Complexities and differences between open source projects with and without organizational engagement are also evident in research on legal and regulatory issues [24], highlighting licensing decisions from individual and organizational views [57]. From this literature, we have a base from which to see that the practices within open source projects are evolving in significant ways that are altering the sociotechnical dynamics and mechanisms that underlie our prior understanding of "how open source projects work".…”

Sustainable digitalisation through different dimensions of openness

“…[5] Open source software is software made available under a software license which has been approved by the OSI, see further OSI [41]. Practitioners, researchers, and representatives for the OSI have presented categorisations of OSS licenses and central to "most (if not all) categorisations is that there is a clear distinction between permissive OSS licenses and those that have a copyleft effect" [18]. The recognised OSS licenses have different legal effects and depending on specific preferences amongst stakeholders involved in a given OSS project, different licenses may be preferred for a specific OSS project.…”

“…The recognised OSS licenses have different legal effects and depending on specific preferences amongst stakeholders involved in a given OSS project, different licenses may be preferred for a specific OSS project. Previous research which analysed 200 widely used OSS projects shows that "the vast majority of the 200 investigated OSS projects are provided under a clear minority of all open source licenses recognised by the OSI" [18]. Specifically, the study shows that "there are only 9 different licenses that are used by 5 or more of the top 200 projects (where several of these are different versions of a license)" [18].…”

“…Previous research which analysed 200 widely used OSS projects shows that "the vast majority of the 200 investigated OSS projects are provided under a clear minority of all open source licenses recognised by the OSI" [18]. Specifically, the study shows that "there are only 9 different licenses that are used by 5 or more of the top 200 projects (where several of these are different versions of a license)" [18]. Further, it was found that "licenses with strong copyleft are most widely used in the selected OSS projects and the majority of OSS projects (55%) use such licenses."…”

“…Further, it was found that "licenses with strong copyleft are most widely used in the selected OSS projects and the majority of OSS projects (55%) use such licenses." [18] The Open Definition establishes "principles that define 'openness' in relation to data and content" [39] and recognises a set of licenses that conform to the definition [40]…”