News

OpenChain Sees Increased Adoption By Knowledge Providers

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, July 11, 2017 — The OpenChain Project was recently informed that our curriculum is being used by Source Code Control Limited as the foundation to deliver open source training and consultancy in the United Kingdom. Their most recent OpenChain-related activity was the delivery of a course entitled ‘Getting it Right with Open Source Software Licensing‘ through TechUK. Source Code Control joins Moorcrofts Corporate Law in providing education that incorporates OpenChain Curriculum material for the British market.

“OpenChain is designed to solve real-world issues related to open source compliance in the supply chain,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “It supports and relies on the development of a healthy community of adopters and service providers. We are encouraged to see Source Code Control’s work and we hope to collaborate more deeply in the near future.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• The OpenChain Support Page on Facebook
• The OpenChain Conformance page
• The list of OpenChain Conformant companies

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.

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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 Adds Social Network Appointments

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, July 10, 2017 — The OpenChain Project today added the ability to book appointments to talk about the project, the specification it produces or to get help with completing our self-certification questionnaire.

“OpenChain is a project that welcomes every company big or small from anywhere in the world,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “Making it easy to talk about the project or to get help with joining our community is vital. Adding the ability to book appointments with OpenChain experts via social networks is small step to support this. Just go to our Facebook page and click the “Request Time” button to get started.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• The OpenChain Support Page on Facebook
• The OpenChain Conformance page
• The list of OpenChain Conformant companies

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.

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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.

Source Auditor is the latest OpenChain Conformant Company

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, June 29, 2017 — The OpenChain Project today welcomes Source Auditor to our list of OpenChain Specification Conformant Companies.

“We believe OpenChain is an important initiative helping to spread open source compliance practices across the worldwide supply chain, and our customers will benefit greatly from applying these best practices in their own operations,” said Gary O’Neall, co-founder at Source Auditor. “Having provided software and services for open source compliance over the past 10 years as well as multiple contributions to OpenChain, Source Auditor is pleased to announce our OpenChain compliance.”

“I am delighted to welcome Source Auditor to our expanding community of OpenChain Conformant organizations,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “The concept of OpenChain Conformance is simple and powerful: it indicates that an organization has processes for addressing inbound and
outbound open source software from the perspective of license compliance. A key value is OpenChain’s applicability to organizations both large and small. We do not dictate specific processes or specific best practices, but simply that such artifacts exist, allowing companies of all sizes to select the solutions that work best for their market and their context.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• The Source Auditor website
• The OpenChain Conformance page
• The list of OpenChain Conformant companies

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.

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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 Announces Japanese Onboarding Material

TOKYO, Japan, June 29, 2017 — The Japanese translation team for the OpenChain Project has released translated versions of our Onboarding Handouts and Slides. This material acts as an “Executive Summary” to help companies quickly understand and engage with the OpenChain Project.

“We owe huge thanks to our Japanese volunteer community,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “Takashi Kunai and his team -Takashi Egawa (NEC), Masao Taniguchi (NEC), Hiroyuki Fukuchi (Sony), Nobuo Imada (Hitachi) and Mieko Sato (Linux Foundation) – have done exceptional work in sharing the OpenChain Project beyond the English-speaking audience. They drove the first official translation of the OpenChain Specification in Japanese and today marks another milestone in bringing the benefit of OpenChain to a wider audience.” Find this guide and many more documents in the OpenChain Reference Library.

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• The OpenChain Project translations page
• Japanese Onboarding Handout
• Japanese Onboarding Slides
• The OpenChain Reference Library
• The Linux Foundation Japanese translators list

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.

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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 Announces New Curriculum Chair

Alexios, Curriculum Chair

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, June 28, 2017 — Today the OpenChain Project is delighted to formally welcome Alexios Zavras as the new Curriculum Work Team Chair. He will work alongside Mark Gisi (Specification Chair) and Miriam Ballhausen (Conformance Chair) to refine and expand our support of open source compliance in the supply chain.

“The OpenChain Project is built from and depends on contributions from an excellent volunteer community,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “Each of our work teams is maintained by a community-selected contributor from among our diverse stakeholders. I felt it was important to continue this approach after my appointment as Program Manager in late March. It is with great pleasure that I welcome Alexios, a key contributor to the curriculum, to become my successor as chair.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• The OpenChain Project community
• The OpenChain Project curriculum

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.

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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 Receives Checklist Contribution

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, June 22, 2017 — On the 14th of June the OpenChain Project received a contribution of educational flowcharts from Armijn Hemel and Shane Coughlan’s publication ‘Practical GPL Compliance.’ Today the OpenChain Project announced that it has received a contribution of additional educational checklists and supplementary commentary from the same book. All of this material is being made available under a CC-0 license.

“The educational material made available over the last two weeks can be applied to process management, best practices and training around open source compliance,” says Shane Coughlan. “It is a natural fit with the OpenChain Project’s onboarding and curriculum activities and will be considered for inclusion in future releases. Meanwhile, due to the nature of the CC-0 license it is released under, anyone can use, study, share and improve this material for any purpose. By undertaking these releases we hope to inspire further engagement and collaboration from diverse stakeholders in the eco-system.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• ‘Practical GPL Compliance’ – The Flowcharts
• ‘Practical GPL Compliance’ – The Checklists

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.

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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 at LinuxCon China – The Talk and Slides

BEIJING, China (LinuxCon China) June 22, 2017 — Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager, introduced the OpenChain Project from a business perspective and launched the OpenChain Conformance logo at LinuxCon China 2017 on the 20th of June.

“I am delighted to announce that we are making my slides, a video of the “big picture” section of my talk and the complete audio available today,” says Shane Coughlan. “This is part of our ongoing commitment to communicate the purpose of OpenChain Project, to make it easy to share OpenChain with interest parties, and to encourage greater engagement.”

The Slides

The “Big Picture” Video

The Full Speech Audio

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• The OpenChain Specification: https://www.openchainproject.org/spec
• Online Self-Certification: https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance
• FAQ: https://www.openchainproject.org/faq

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 Conformance Logo

BEIJING, China (LinuxCon China) June 20, 2017 — Today the OpenChain Project launched the OpenChain Conformance logo. This logo can be used on websites or marketing material by organizations of any size that self-certify to the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance, and displaying the OpenChain Conformance logo, is one of the simplest, quickest ways to demonstrate a serious, measured approach to open source license compliance.

“OpenChain Conformance builds trust between organizations in the supply chain,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “This makes procurement easier for purchasers and preferred status easier for suppliers. The release of the OpenChain Conformance logo increases the visibility for organizations engaging with our industry standard. It is another step forward towards ensuring that increased trust regarding open source compliance can be built between organizations in the global supply chain.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• Learn more about OpenChain Conformance: https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance
• The OpenChain Specification: https://www.openchainproject.org/spec
• Translations: https://www.openchainproject.org/translations
• Online Self-Certification: https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance
• FAQ: https://www.openchainproject.org/faq

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 at LinuxCon China

SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2017 — Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager, will deliver a talk entitled ‘Managing the Open Source Supply Chain‘ at LinuxCon China at 14:15 on the 20th of June. It will take place in Room 306B and everyone attending the event is invited to attend. It will provide an opportunity to learn more about OpenChain, about complementary projects such as SPDX and FOSSology, and about how the global open source community has built out the processes and tools needed for sustainable governance.

“When open source began there were questions about how the licenses worked and whether this collaborative method could scale,” says Shane Coughlan. “In two decades we have come so far. Open source is now the foundation of the global IT industry and we have matured beyond code. We have collaborated to build great technology, great projects and great approaches to managing our activities. My talk at LinuxCon China will focus on the latter item, a key tipping point for maturity, and an area where projects like OpenChain showcase our progress as a community.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• Learn more about Shane’s talk on the LinuxCon China website: http://sched.co/AVBB
• The OpenChain Specification: https://www.openchainproject.org/spec
• Translations: https://www.openchainproject.org/translations
• Online Self-Certification: https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance
• FAQ: https://www.openchainproject.org/faq

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.

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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 at the Asian Legal Network

SAN FRANCISCO, June 16, 2017 — The OpenChain Project will take center stage today at an event hosted by Open Invention Network and DLA Piper in Tokyo to discuss ‘Building on OSS: IP and Compliance Strategies for Success.’ Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager, will act as MC for the event, deliver a talk entitled ‘Introduction to OpenChain and the Role of Compliance in a Strong Governance Program for Automakers, Suppliers and Beyond’ and lead the roundtable.

“The OpenChain Project is part of a broad global community engaging with all aspects of intellectual property around open source,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain Program Manager. “The Asian Legal Network has been meeting on a quarterly basis in China, Japan, Korea and India for over two years. I am delighted to once again host a forward-facing discussion on key subjects impacting operating companies.”

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.

More information is available from the OpenChain Project website at www.openchainproject.org. Companies of all sizes are invited to review the OpenChain Project, to use the free Online Self-Certification, and to support building a web of trust for open source compliance across the global supply chain.

Additional Resources

• The OpenChain Specification: https://www.openchainproject.org/spec
• Translations: https://www.openchainproject.org/translations
• Online Self-Certification: https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance
• FAQ: https://www.openchainproject.org/faq

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.