This post is one of a series of posts about what open source software projects can do (if they wish to) to make it easier for companies to participate in their projects.
When a company wants to get involved in an open source software, often they need some help understanding how things work. Sometimes it’s the developer who wants to contribute that has questions. Sometimes it’s their management who wants to understand what type of commitment they are making and what they can expect.
An open source software project can make it easier for a corporate contributor to participate by being clear about:
- What the release process and schedule looks like.
- How long it takes for a PR to be reviewed and how to best position it for acceptance.
- Who makes decisions and how.
- What roles people in the project play and how they get to those roles.
- Where and how to ask questions.
- Who is working on the project and what their motivations are. (Is this software to make apps run faster on watches or is it to make apps run on car computers?)
- How to find out and stay informed of security issues.
As an open source software maintainer, the more you can help organizations understand how you work and how to work effectively with you, the more likely they are to engage.