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Shane Coughlan

Shane Coughlan is an expert in communication, security and business development. His professional accomplishments include spearheading the licensing team that elevated Open Invention Network into the largest patent non-aggression community in history, establishing the leading professional network of Open Source legal experts and aligning stakeholders to launch both the first law journal and the first law book dedicated to Open Source. Shane has extensive knowledge of Open Source governance, internal process development, supply chain management and community building. His experience includes engagement with the enterprise, embedded, mobile and automotive industries.

OpenChain Newsletter #4

By Monthly Newsletter

tl;dr

A new Pilot Partner Program has Launched, More OpenChain Conformant Organizations; More Translations. Our community is continuing to grow and we are laying the foundation for long-term sustainability.

OpenChain Partners

We have launched a Pilot Partner Program to foster commercial activity around the OpenChain Project. The pilot will run throughout 2017 prior to the broader release of the partner program in 2018. Our goal is to ensure that anyone, anywhere can self-certify to OpenChain Specifications, but also that professional help is available if and when wanted. Learn more here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/partner-program
Read the release announcement here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2017/08/15/openchain-launches-pilot-partner-program

OpenChain Conformance

We have welcomed Tjaldur Software Governance Solutions, Lyra Infosystems, Endocode, GE Digital and credativ to the OpenChain Community of Conformance. We now have 15 organizations conformant with OpenChain Specification 1.1. Learn more here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance

OpenChain @ Events

We have started listing forthcoming events with OpenChain participation on a dedicated page. Learn more here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/events

New Material Donations

We have received public domain donations of reference best practices and open source policy material.

OpenChain Internationalization

We have received a wealth of translations in the last month. OpenChain has received Portuguese Translations, Korean Translations, Simplified Chinese Translations and Spanish Translations. Check out their individual launch announcements:

What’s Next?

In the next month we will improve our onboarding (introduction) material and further refine our website. Learn more in the next newsletter or on the OpenChain mailing list: https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/openchain

License and Trademarks

Copyright 2017 The Linux Foundation. This newsletter is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0). Please feel free to share it onwards! OpenChain is a trademark of The Linux Foundation. It may be used according to The Linux Foundation Trademark Policy and the OpenChain Terms of Use. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Download as a PDF

Hallo! OpenChain is in German

By News

Hallo! OpenChain is in German

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, August 24, 2017 — The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce that the release of the official German translation of OpenChain Specification 1.1.

“Today’s addition continues to build out OpenChain in major languages,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “It cannot be overstated how important localization is to ensure barriers to entry are reduced. OpenChain is extremely fortunate to have an active, dedicated global community with tremendous energy and enthusiasm. Thanks to their hard work our core material is being made available to countless thousands of potential participants.”

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

OpenChain Launches Pilot Partner Program

By News

OpenChain Launches Pilot Partner Program

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, August 15, 2017 — The OpenChain Project today announces the launch of a Pilot Partner Program.The OpenChain Project has selected five entities closely aligned with OpenChain, the open source legal sphere, and the embedded space to test the parameters of what can become a scalable program in 2018. This is intended to help ensure that companies seeking to become OpenChain Conformant and who want guidance can obtain professional services. The Partner Program is another milestone in building an increasingly self-sustaining eco-system.

“The foundation of any successful initiative is a vibrant eco-system,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “OpenChain partners can help other legal entities become OpenChain Conformant. The OpenChain Project is keen on developing the partner program and working towards its success. We are equally keen to ensure that any organization, anywhere can adopt OpenChain easily on their own. Today marks the beginning of how we approach building a supportive community that provides freedom of choice for everyone.”

Andrew Katz, Head of Technology at Moorcrofts said “I’ve been talking about OpenChain to companies involved in the FOSS supply chain from tiny startups to multinationals, and I’ve never come across a positive response like this before. Everyone I talk to immediately gets it, and asks why someone hasn’t done it already: the response is equally strong from technologists as it is from lawyers. I’m so excited to be a part of this, as are the initial group of clients we’re working with on OpenChain.”

Catharina Maracke, founder of the Software Compliance Academy, said: “Compliance within the FOSS supply chain goes far beyond the administrative task of understanding and managing FOSS licenses. A neatly executed FOSS compliance strategy can be the game changer in every business deal. Establishing OpenChain as a standard for FOSS compliance processes and best practices will help our clients implement better compliance strategies and manage software more efficiently. We are delighted to be part of the OpenChain community.”

“Software organizations we work with at Source Auditor are seeing many benefits from OpenChain including improved FOSS compliance practices and better FOSS training”, said Gary O’Neall co-founder at Source Auditor. “We are pleased to be a contributor and partner with the OpenChain Project”.

“From Togán Labs inception, we’ve been 100% focused on providing our customers with tools and processes that help them reduce their time to market without sacrificing the quality checks that would expose them to licensing related liabilities. Through our partnership with OpenChain, we’re looking forward to helping even more organizations bring their products to market bearing the mark of OpenChain certification.” said Beth Flanagan, Togán Labs Co-Founder and CTO.

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

OpenChain Expands Portuguese Translations

By News

OpenChain Expands Portuguese Translations

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, August 11, 2017 — The OpenChain Project today announces the release of onboarding handouts and slides in Portuguese.

“Accessibility is a key issue for the OpenChain Project,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “Our goal is to make sure that as many people as possible have access to our industry standard. Today’s release is another step forward. Brazil’s adoption of open source in government, in business and in education makes Portuguese a critical building block for our community. Bill Weinberg and Gianna Cardinale from Open Source Sense acted as translator and reviewer respectively. We owe them a great debt of thanks.”

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

OpenChain Welcomes credativ

By News

OpenChain Welcomes credativ

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, August 7, 2017 –The OpenChain Project is delighted to welcome credativ to the community of OpenChain Conformant organizations.

“The addition of credativ brings another important open source pillar into the OpenChain community and boosts our mission to make open source software compliance easier, more understandable and more transparent,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “credativ is one of the early supporters of Free and Open Source Software in our community. They have engaged at a unique time. We are looking forward to working closely together to channel influence in the European, American and Indian market as we scale OpenChain self-certification.”

“It is an important step for us to join the OpenChain community,” says Dr Michael Meskes, CEO of credativ. “ Through our extensive experience with Open Source in business, we work with a lot of different companies and know how to improve upon the positive impact that Open Source provides, not only in technical but also compliance issues. Therefore we would like to further extend the reputation of the OpenChain project by expressing adherence to their specifications. We think that this leads to more and more companies gaining trust and confidence in Free and Open Source Software. One of the key aspects of the OpenChain certification is, that it builds trust, which, already rooted in the core principles of Free and Open Source Software, thusly provides an essential contribution to the general acceptance of Open Source.”

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

About credativ

credativ is a independent consulting and services companies operating in Germany, Spain, India, the Netherlands and the USA. Since the founding in 1999, credativ has been offering comprehensive services and technical support for the implementation and operation of Open Source Software in business applications. For more information, visit http://www.credativ.com

안녕! OpenChain is in Korean

By News

안녕! OpenChain is in Korean

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, August 7, 2017 — The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce that the release of the official Korean translation of OpenChain Specification 1.1.

“Our very first translations as a project were created in Korean,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “It is with enormous gratitude and thanks that we welcome the latest outcomes from that dedicated team. Haksung Jang, the lead translator behind this and our equally valuable curriculum and FAQ translations, deserves great credit for all he has done. So too does JongBaek Park, the second translator involved, and without whom we would not have been ready for this official release so quickly.”

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

你好! OpenChain is in Simplified Chinese

By News

你好! OpenChain is in Simplified Chinese

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, August 3, 2017 — The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce that the release of OpenChain onboarding material in Simplified Chinese in collaboration with the Debian China community.

“This is our first release of OpenChain material in Chinese,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “All credit is due to the hard work and community spirit of Yubin Ruan and Boyuan Yang from Debian. We worked together to provide a way for Chinese companies, projects and individuals to understand why OpenChain exists, what it does, and how it accomplishes its goals. Today is the first step among many in building a presence in the Chinese open source community.”

“Debian has an active community of translators around the world who help make sure everyone has access to open, modifiable software,” says Chris Lamb, Debian Project Leader. “Collaboration and contribution are at the core of our community and have been reflected in how we worked together with the OpenChain Project.”

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

OpenChain Welcomes GE Digital

By News

OpenChain Welcomes GE Digital

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, July 28, 2017 — The OpenChain Project is delighted to welcome GE Digital to the community of OpenChain Conformant organizations.

“Every new participant in the OpenChain community of conformance is valued,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “GE Digital is a welcome addition that underlines the utility of OpenChain for all types of company across multiple market sectors.”

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

About GE Digital

GE Digital is the leading software company for the Industrial Internet, reimagining industry’s infrastructure by connecting software, apps and analytics to industrial businesses to drive a Predix-powered world. GE Digital creates software to design, build, operate and manage the entire asset lifecycle – enabling industrial businesses to operate faster, smarter and more efficiently. For more information, visit www.ge.com/digital.

OpenChain Newsletter #3

By Monthly Newsletter

tl;dr

More OpenChain Conformant Organizations; More Translations; More Onboarding Material. Our community is growing rapidly and our specification is proven as adoptable by large and small entities.

OpenChain Conformance

There are two major news items related to OpenChain Conformance. The first is that we have welcomed four new entities to our community in the last month:

If you are interested in learning more you can check out the individual news items:

The second major conformance news item is that we have launched a logo for all OpenChain Conformant organizations to use:

The OpenChain Conformance logo will become an increasingly familiar sight in the supply chain over time. There will be more information about our plans for expanded adoption in the next newsletter.

OpenChain @ Events

We attended the Asian Legal Network meeting in Tokyo and LinuxCon China in Beijing.

You can watch our LinuxCon China talk and view our slides here: https://goo.gl/fBaBcB

This overview is suitable as a starting point for business decision-makers and other non-technical parties interested in why OpenChain exists and how it delivers value.

New Material Donations

We have received donations of flowcharts, checklists and a markdown conversation of the OpenChain Specification during the last month.

New Curriculum Chair

We are delighted to announce that Alexios Zavras from Intel is the new chair of the OpenChain Curriculum Work Team. Alexios holds the position of Senior Open Source Compliance Engineer at Intel and has long been a contributor to projects in the Linux Foundation and further afield.

New Ways to Communicate

We have continued to expand the ways that people can find and interact with the OpenChain Project. This month we added appointment reservations to the OpenChain Facebook Page. Our goal is to make it possible to discover, interact with and participate in OpenChain as easily as possible.

OpenChain Internationalization

We have seen heavy activity on the internationalization front. The two stand-out pieces of news are the release of our onboarding material and our Frequently Asked Questions page in Japanese.

What’s Next?

In the next month we will announce our partner program pilot, we will continue to expand our internationalization efforts, and we will improve both the website and the format used for our newsletter. Learn more in the next newsletter or on the OpenChain mailing list: https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/openchain

License and Trademarks

Copyright 2017 The Linux Foundation. This newsletter is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0). Please feel free to share it onwards! OpenChain is a trademark of The Linux Foundation. It may be used according to The Linux Foundation Trademark Policy and the OpenChain Terms of Use. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Download as a PDF

OpenChain Welcomes Endocode

By News

OpenChain Welcomes Endocode

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, July 27, 2017 — The OpenChain Project is proud to welcome Endocode to the community of OpenChain Conformant organizations.

“Endocode is an exceptional company,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “They come from the heart of the open source community and provide a range of services that underline their exceptional efficiency in resource allocation. I am delighted to welcome Endocode not only as a valued contributor to the eco-system but also because of what they can bring to our community as we scale.”

“Being Open Source license compliant is a vital constraint for all hardware and software manufacturers that include Open Source components in their products, says Mirko Boehm, Founder and CEO of Endocode. “OpenChain aims at making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent. This is a mission we share and are excited to contribute to. Endocode has been working with the industry to improve compliance auditing and tooling. We are thrilled to join a community that is working towards the same goals.”

The OpenChain Project identifies key recommended processes for effective open source management. The project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements.

The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

Organizations of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to complete our free Online Self-Certification Questionnaire, and to join our community of trust.

Additional Resources

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

About Endocode

Endocode is an employee owned, software-engineering company from Berlin. Open Source compliance and guidance are a vital part of Endocode’s professional IT services. Our team has contributed to open source DevOps tooling, Linux container technologies, and numerous open source projects including Debian, KDE, Firefox and LibreOffice. It shares a history of being devoted professional contributors to Open Source communities from all over the world. With a focus on Open Source technologies, Endocode offers engineering, trainings and consultancy.