News

SAN FRANCISCO and EDINBURGH (OPEN SOURCE SUMMIT EUROPE) – October 23, 2018 –The OpenChain Project, which builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent, announces Toshiba has become a Platinum Member. Toshiba has long been a driving force in the OpenChain Japan Work Group, and their new Platinum membership will enable the company to contribute even more to the global adoption of the OpenChain standard. OpenChain member organizations provide resources and support to enable the community to be effective in recommending key processes for effective open source management.

“The OpenChain Project has seen exceptional engagement by the Japanese community,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “Toshiba has been at the forefront of this, actively contributing to our meetings and our strategic planning. Their Platinum Membership is a natural evolution of their roles as thought leaders in open source and we are looking forward to accomplishing great things together.”

“OpenChain is not just a project for OSS license compliance, it also helps to improve mutual trust and effective communication between open source developers and users,” says Tetsuji Fukaya, Director of the Corporate Software Engineering and Technology Center of Toshiba Corporation. “Open source is publicly recognized as an essential part of digital transformation and widely used in numerous products. In order to use open source appropriately, we think that license compliance alone is not enough. Mutual trust between developers and users is also essential. OpenChain will be key to achieve both. For that reason, we feel proud of being part of the OpenChain Project.”

Every organization of every size in every market is invited to conform to the OpenChain Specification free of charge. This builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

Start today by visiting:

https://www.openchainproject.org

Go directly to online self-certification here:

https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance

Platinum Members of the OpenChain Project include Adobe, ARM Holdings, Cisco, Comcast, GitHub, Harman International, Hitachi, Qualcomm, Siemens, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota and Western Digital.

About Toshiba

In over 140 years, Tokyo-based Toshiba Corporation has built a global network of almost 400 companies that channels reliable technologies into “Social Infrastructure”, “Energy”, “Electronic Devices” and “Digital Solutions”—the basic infrastructure that sustains modern life and society. Guided by The Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group, “Committed to People, Committed to the Future”, Toshiba promotes value creation that helps to realize a world where generations to come can live better lives. In fiscal year 2017, the Group and its 141,000 employees worldwide secured annual sales surpassing 3.9 trillion yen (US$ 37.2 billion).

Find out more about Toshiba at www.toshiba.co.jp/worldwide/about/index.html

About the OpenChain Project

The OpenChain 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.

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.

SAN FRANCISCO and EDINBURGH – OPEN SOURCE SUMMIT EUROPE – October 23, 2018 – The OpenChain Project, which builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent, announces it has welcomed SUSE to its community of conformance. Conformance with the OpenChain Specification confirms that an organization follows the key requirements of a quality open source compliance program, and builds trust between organizations in the supply chain. It makes procurement easier for purchasers and preferred status easier for suppliers. Conformance is accomplished by answering a series of questions online.

SUSE is the first enterprise Linux distributor to earn conformance with the OpenChain Project Specification. In doing so, SUSE is helping free industry resources to focus on innovation by reducing complex processes. SUSE joins 17 other organizations with publicly announced conformant programs.

“The OpenChain Standard is suitable for every organization involved in the open source supply chain,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “Welcoming SUSE to our community is a landmark milestone that illustrates how we positively impact the beginning of the supply chain. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with a great team toward goals that will ultimately benefit thousands of companies across the globe.”

“For more than 25 years, SUSE has created and engaged with open source communities as a foundation for its enterprise solutions,” said Thomas Di Giacomo, SUSE CTO. “We always engage with the community to better meet customer needs, and our OpenChain certification is another indication to enterprises that we are committed to making their experience with open source software more reliable and cost effective.”

Every organization of every size in every market is invited to conform to the OpenChain Specification free of charge. This builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

Start today by visiting:

https://www.openchainproject.org

Go directly to the online self-certification here:

https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance

Platinum Members of the OpenChain Project include Adobe, ARM Holdings, Cisco, Comcast, GitHub, Harman International, Hitachi, Qualcomm, Siemens, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota and Western Digital.

About the OpenChain Project

The OpenChain 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.

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.

The OpenChain Project will host a Birds of a Feather (BoF) at 6pm on Monday the 22nd of October at Open Source Summit Europe.

This BoF is designed to provide a “ground level” introduction to what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why you should be part of this.

Speaking more formally, here is the abstract:
“Open source compliance across the supply chain is a challenge known but unsolved for more than a decade. This BoF will explore recent developments in standards and tooling that can help reduce compliance errors as code moves between teams or companies.”

Learn More

• Check out our slot on the Open Source Summit Europe schedule

Pro Tip

• We also have a more in-depth workshop the next day!

The OpenChain Project will be featured at a forthcoming Bird & Bird event on the 20th of November in Frankfurt, Germany. Find out more or register for this event by contacting the Bird & Bird team:

Bird & Bird LLP
Marienstraße 15
60329 Frankfurt am Main T: +49 (0)69 74222 6000
F: +49 (0)69 74222 6011
frankfurt@twobirds.com

Bird & Bird & Open Source License Compliance in Softwarelieferketten

Am 20. November 2018 findet in unserem Frankfurter Büro ein Seminar zur Open Source License Compliance statt, das wir in Kooperation mit dem OpenChain-Projekt der LinuxFoundation durchführen. Sprecher sind u.a. Andreas Bärwald (TÜV SÜD Product Services GmbH), Dr. Michael Jaeger (Siemens AG), Dr. Catharina Maracke (Software Compliance Academy) und Shane Coughlin (OpenChain Projekt).

Datum: 20. November 2018
Ort: Bird & Bird, Frankfurt am Main

The OpenChain Project will host a workshop co-located with the Open Source Summit Europe in Edinburgh on the 23rd of October. Details below. All welcome!

The OpenChain Workshop – The Supply Chain Compliance Solution (Not A Blockchain)

The OpenChain Project defines the key requirements for a quality open source compliance program through a single, simple specification. It supports this specification with free online self-certification and educational reference material for organizations of all sizes. This workshop will feature the latest developments around supply chain compliance and provide an excellent opportunity for attendees to both learn from and contribute to the project work teams. The goal is to provide practical solutions for real-world challenges across all market sectors.

Date: Tuesday, October 23
Time: 15:00 – 16:30
Location: Edinburgh 1, Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa Edinburgh
Registration Cost: Complimentary; Pre-registration required

Learn More:

• Co-Located Events at Open Source Summit Europe

Can the OpenChain Project offer even more news this week? Of course. We are delighted to announce the public Beta of a new Web App for benchmarking OpenChain Conformance. The idea is to provide a quick, simple and attractive way for companies to check their status regarding meeting the OpenChain standard. This project is being managed by our good friends at Source Code Control.

We are seeking feedback on the current offering regarding:

1. Ease of use
2. If it helps solves friction around conformance
3. How complementary it is to our Conformance Web App

Ideally we will end up with a great thinking tool to support companies undertaking formal conformance.

“Source Code Control wanted to offer an  easy to use, interactive and engaging mechanism for people or organizations interested in learning more about the Software Supply Chain and OpenChain to benchmark their current position,” says Paul McAdam, Director, Source Code Control. “This quick self-assessment format helps to identify the gap in understanding and capability.”

“OpenChain Conformance is of vital importance to improving the quality of open source compliance,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “As our project matures we are collaborating with partners to support the process with better reference material and better tools. A quick benchmarking tool fits right into this concept. We are delighted to work with Source Code Control on this new beta…and on developing it into a finished work product for the project as a whole.”

Notes on this Beta release:

• Currently the URL clearly comes from the Source Code Control Typeform subscription. This will be replaced with a project address later in the beta.
• The “respond to” email address is Paul’s but will be replaced with a project address later in the beta.

Learn More:

• Check out the benchmarking Web App

Help Us Out:

• Provide comments, suggestions and corrections

Today the OpenChain Project closes off our ranges of educational case studies with two anonymous contributions via our Japan Work Group. These are available in both English and Japanese.

“Building out a collection of case studies has been one of the most frequent requests from our community,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “We started with general open source case studies three months ago and for the past month we have been focusing on a series of releases around education. Our two anonymous case studies today close off this branch and provide a great conclusion to our work. Watch this space for more topics in the near future.”

These case studies are made available under the CC-BY-ND 4.0 license.

Learn More:

• Get the case study in PDF format
• Get the case study in PPTX format

Get these guides and many more documents in the OpenChain Reference Library.

The OpenChain Project will be featured in a Flexera webinar on the 25th of October at 11am Central Time. This event will serve as a great starting point for any organization seeking to adopt the key processes of a quality open source compliance program. The webinar will be hosted by Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager, and Jeff Luszcz, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera.

Points covered:

• Overview of the software supply chain; why is OpenChain necessary
• What is OpenChain and how does it address software supply chain issues
• How is OpenChain being deployed in the market right now

Learn More

• Open Source Central: The Linux Foundation’s OpenChain Project Explained

The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce that our friends at TÜV SÜD Japan have launched an OpenChain Certification Program. This is the first such program and foreshadows a series of announcements over the coming months.

The core of the OpenChain Project is our specification (standard) and our simple, free process for self-certification. Commercial activities adjacent to this by TÜV SÜD Japan and other organizations are complementary, providing an avenue for verified/audited certification for entities that want to have this level of assurance.

Learn More:

• TÜV SÜD Japan (Japanese)
• PR Times (Japanese)

“One of the key requirements for any quality open source program is to comply with the requirements of open source licences. Companies, especially new entrants to the field, often have a lot of questions about what processes to follow, the methods of compliance and what challenges may be involved. The OpenChain Project by the Linux Foundation is a standard developed to solve and answer all these questions. To understand more about the OpenChain Project, Ankita K.S. from the EFY Group had a chat with Shane Coughlan, OpenChain general manager at the Linux Foundation.”

Learn More:

• OpenChain Project: Managing Open Source Compliance Across the Software Supply Chain

About Open Source For You

Open Source For You is Asia’s leading IT publication focused on open source technologies. Launched in February 2003 (as Linux For You), the magazine aims to help techies avail the benefits of open source software and solutions.