Open Source Practice

Introduction

Open source refers to a model of software development that promotes the open exchange of information and collaborative participation. Key principles include openness, transparency, community-oriented development, and the freedom to modify and redistribute the source code.

Overview

Open source practices involve collaborative development, use of open source licenses that allow for redistribution and modification of the software, and active participation in community-driven projects. This approach fosters an environment where developers can contribute to the enhancement of software solutions, irrespective of their geographical location.

Expected Benefits

Adopting open source practices offers numerous advantages:

• Innovation and Creativity: Open source encourages collective problem-solving, leading to innovative and creative software solutions.
• Quality and Security: The transparent nature of open source software allows for thorough peer reviews, enhancing both its quality and security aspects.
• Flexibility and Independence: Users have the freedom to customize open source software to meet their specific needs, ensuring greater flexibility and vendor independence.
• Cost Efficiency: Open source software reduces overall IT expenses by reducing costly license fees and allowing organizations to leverage community-supported solutions.
• Community and Support: A robust and active community provides extensive support, knowledge sharing, and collaboration opportunities, further enriching the open source ecosystem.

The open source model stands as a pillar of technological advancement and innovation. It not only facilitates a collaborative approach to software development but also significantly impacts accessibility, quality, and the democratization of technology. By embracing open source practices, the tech community can ensure a future where software is developed in a more open, collaborative, and inclusive manner, benefiting everyone involved.

Practice Description

Identify your needs

There are several situations where you can be regarding Open Source assets management.

Either you are consuming OSS software, in this case please follow the corresponding instructions :

• Management & Use of external software components (COTS & OSS)
• GUIDE FOR SOFTWARE COTS AND OPEN SOURCE MANAGEMENT

Either you are producing OSS software and two practices are offered to you:

• Publication: you want to share a Thales asset to the OSS community through our Thales Github
• Contribution: you want to participate to an existing Open Source project (to fix an issue, propose enhancements, …)

Submit a contribution

Before any contribution, you MUST read the OSS Thales Code of Conduct .

If you want to participate to an existing Open Source project in order to fix an issue, to propose enhancements, here are the steps to follow:

• Contact oss@thalesgroup.com if you need information or support to guide you
• Submit a new CONTRIBUTION REQUEST
• Fill all the required details and answer the questions
• Obtain the approvals:
  • management & technical first
  • OSS compliance and legal after
• Once done we proceed with your Thales GitHub repository setting up
  • forking the project into our organization
  • giving you the maintainer rights on the fork
• Push your code to the fork
• Submit your pull request from this fork to the initial Open Source project

Submit a publication

Before any publication, you MUST read the OSS Thales Code of Conduct .

If you want to share a Thales asset to the OSS community through our Thales Github organisation, here are the steps to follow:

• Contact oss@thalesgroup.com if you need information or support to guide you
• Submit a new PUBLICATION REQUEST
• Fill all the required details and answer the questions
• Obtain the approvals
  • management & technical first
  • OSS compliance and legal after
• Once done we proceed with your Thales GitHub repository setting up
  • creating a new empty private repository from the template
  • giving you the admin rights on this repository
• Push your code to the repository
• Complete all the mandatory markdown files (README, LICENSE, CONTRIBUTING, SECURITY)
• Inform oss@thalesgroup.com that the repository is ready to be publicly visible