Computer science · Economics & business
Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project
Karl Fogel
Karl Fogel · Second edition; version 2.3300, 5 February 2023 · English · Published 2023
A practical guide to starting and maintaining free and open-source software projects, including collaboration, community, releases, funding and project governance.
- Learning stage
- College introduction
- Prerequisites
- Basic familiarity with software development and collaborative projects.
- PDF pages
- 233 in this file
- Editorial review
- 2026-10-29
Contents
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Producing Open Source Software
Table of Contents
Preface
Preface
Why Write This Book?
Who Should Read This Book?
Sources
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 1. Introduction
History
The Situation Today
Chapter 2. Getting Started
Chapter 2. Getting Started
But First, Look Around
Starting From What You Have
Choosing a License and Applying It
Setting the Tone
Opening a Formerly Closed Project
Announcing
Chapter 3. Technical Infrastructure
Chapter 3. Technical Infrastructure
What a Project Needs
Web Site
Message Forums / Mailing Lists
Version Control
Bug Tracker
Real-Time Chat Systems
Wikis
Translation Infrastructure
Social Networking Services
Chapter 4. Social and Political Infrastructure
Chapter 4. Social and Political Infrastructure
Forkability
Benevolent Dictators
Consensus-based Democracy
Writing It All Down
Joining or Creating a Non-Profit Organization
Chapter 5. Organizations and Money: Businesses, Non-Profits, and Governments
Chapter 5. Organizations and Money: Businesses, Non-Profits, and Governments
The Economics of Open Source
Goals of Corporate Involvement
Governments and Open Source
Hire for the Long Term
Appear as Many, Not as One
Be Open About Your Motivations
Money Can't Buy You Love
Contracting
Funding Non-Programming Activities
Marketing
Open Source and the Organization
Hiring Open Source Developers
Evaluating Open Source Projects
Crowdfunding and Bounties
Chapter 6. Communications
Chapter 6. Communications
Written Culture
You Are What You Write
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
Difficult People
Handling Growth
Choose the Right Forum
Publicity
Chapter 7. Packaging, Releasing, and Daily Development
Chapter 7. Packaging, Releasing, and Daily Development
Release Numbering
Release Branches
Stabilizing a Release
Packaging
Testing and Releasing
Maintaining Multiple Release Lines
Releases and Daily Development
Chapter 8. Managing Participants
Chapter 8. Managing Participants
Community and Motivation
Share Management Tasks as Well as Technical Tasks
Transitions
Committers
Credit
Forks
Chapter 9. Legal Matters: Licenses, Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents
Chapter 9. Legal Matters: Licenses, Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents
Terminology
Aspects of Licenses
The GPL and License Compatibility
Choosing a License
Contributor Agreements
Proprietary Relicensing
Trademarks
Patents
Further Resources
Appendix A. Copyright
Appendix A. Copyright
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Sources and permissions
The author and publisher remain the source of this textbook. Permission information applies to the specific files in this edition.
Author, publisher, and discovery sources
Authors: Karl Fogel
Publisher: Karl Fogel
- Discovered through Open Textbook Library: Source record · Checked 2026-10-29
CC BY-SA 4.0
Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project, second edition, version 2.3300 (5 February 2023), Karl Fogel, copyright 2005–2023, CC BY-SA 4.0. Original PDF unchanged; attribution, dedication and license appendix retained; no endorsement implied.
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Checked 2026-10-29