Optaros Publishes its Free and Open Source Software Policy
by Stephen R. Walli
VP, Open Source Development Strategy
Free and open source software forms the building blocks of the solutions Optaros develops for our clients, and as such the company actively encourages its employees to participate in free and open source projects (on company time and off). Good business practice requires that we set some guidelines and expectations around that participation.
We are asked regularly how one should consider free and open source software within the enterprise. At Optaros, we have a very pragmatic view about how to best use software assets to our client´s advantage. By virtue of our consulting services business we must think about it in terms of asset ownership and management. The policy accounts for the reality that a company owns and is responsible for the work of its employees, and how to respect both the work the company does for its clients and the work the company can contribute into open source community projects. The policy also acknowledges the reality that developers develop, and part of their individual community outside business hours may well be with projects outside of Optaros. As long as the employee respects their work for the client and their commitments to the company, the management team thinks this is good for its customers, its employees, and the company itself.
The management team has discussed formalizing our commitment and guidelines for a while and decided we should not only create the policy formally but publish it such that others can review, model, and adopt their own. To encourage that end we have published the work under a Creative Commons license.
Read the Optaros Free and Open Source Software Policy
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