Open Source

One of the “Four Opens” which frame the basis for an OpenStack project is Open Source. OpenStack projects do not produce “open core” software, they instead produce purely open source software. In addition, the software is produced with a community and contributor accepted license.

Fully Functional Open Source

When we say “fully functional open source”, what we mean is OpenStack projects should not be producing something which requires an enterprise version or some additional proprietary software or hardware to be used at its full potential. Functionality should not be purposefully limited in any way. We strive to make things scalable and efficient in a fully open source manner.

In a similar manner, projects may choose to enable pluggable functionality which allows third party projects and vendors to integrate. This type of architecture is a workable solution. An open source option, whether that is a built in solution or a third party pluggable component, is required to ensure the “fully functional open source” principle is satisfied.

Acceptable Licensing

Licensing requirements are described in the following governance document:

https://governance.openstack.org/tc/reference/licensing.html

Generally speaking, OpenStack projects must utilize the Apache License, 2.0 for the source code they produce. This is the license used by all existing OpenStack software. New projects are required to utilize this license as well, as it’s specifically called out in the OpenStack Foundation bylaws. The Apache License, 2.0, provides the following benefits:

  • OSI approved

  • GPLv3 compatible

  • DFSG compatible

Dependencies and Optional Modules

When utilizing third party modules or libraries which are not Apache 2.0 licensed, contributors need to understand how the interaction between the modules will work and the compatibility of the licenses involved. Please read the licensing requirements, and if there are any remaining doubts or concerns, it is recommended to contact the Technical Committee (using the openstack-discuss mailing-list with the [tc] prefix, or on the #openstack-tc IRC channel) to discuss with the Technical Committee how to proceed. In general, err on the side of caution here.

With regards to dependencies, any third-party libraries or modules need to be vetted in the global requirements. This ensures the added requirement of including the third party module goes through review and will not conflict with broad cross-project efforts, such as the Python 3 porting effort.