Being “open”

Please feel free to contribute and discuss.

What openness means to us…

• We follow any licenses imposed on the upstream software we use
• The code and patches we produce (our “original contributions”) are Open Source, using the BSD license wherever possible
• We do not accept any patches or contributions that do not meet the above criteria
• From Wiktionary
  • (computing, education) degree of accessibility to view, use, and modify in a shared environment with legal rights generally held in common and preventing proprietary restrictions on the right of others to continue viewing, using, modifying and sharing.
  • (systems theory) The degree to which a system operates with distinct boundaries across which exchange occurs capable of inducing change in the system while maintaining the boundaries themselves.

And what it doesn’t mean to us…

• We don’t think that every piece of closed-source software is evil in all cases (read: as long as it works, we are fine with using small portions of licensed Apple closed-source software if no alternative exists)
• Open Source is not “the” solution, but “a” solution or at least “a part of the” solution.