Software platforms for open-source projects and foundations

Open-source projects have many non-technical needs as they grow. But, running a FOSS non-profit organization for supporting these projects is a lot of work, as anyone involved in such an organization will attest. These days, some software platforms, such as LFX from the Linux Foundation and Open Collective, are in development to provide important services, such as crowdfunding, to projects and other organizations. These platforms have the potential to improve both the quality and range of services available to projects.

Paperwork is taxing

Operational issues with project-backing FOSS foundations are not unheard of. The X.Org Foundation, for example, briefly lost its charity status in 2013 due to paperwork that was not filed. In 2016, the organization joined Software in the Public Interest (SPI), in part due to the paperwork headaches; in 2017, it dissolved its legal entity. When X.Org was considering joining SPI, LWN observed that organizations which enjoy tax-exempt status and are eligible to receive tax-deductible donations in the US need to "adhere to some strict paperwork and filing requirements at the IRS [Internal Revenue Service]". Those requirements turned out to be "a bit of a burden over the course of the past few years" for X.Org.

X.Org is not the only organization that has struggled with paperwork. The Gentoo Foundation, which lost its charter briefly in 2007, is currently mulling its future: should it continue to exist as a legal entity, join an umbrella organization (such as the Software Freedom Conservancy or SPI), use a platform like Open Collective, or simply dissolve?

One interesting thing about the X.Org Foundation change is that it kept its governance structure, including its board, intact when it joined SPI. The Open Bioinformatics Foundation, which is also part of SPI, similarly operates as a virtual foundation. Essentially, they are operating as a foundation within a foundation. This is possible because SPI's relationship with its associated projects is fairly loose; there are few restrictions imposed on the governance structure. Increasingly, projects and whole organizations join umbrella organizations in order to benefit from services without taking on too much of an administrative burden.

The Linux Foundation is probably best known for this "foundation as a service" model. The organization hosts a growing number of entities, such as Let's Encrypt, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), and the OpenJS Foundation. The Linux Foundation observed that overhead "goes up exponentially" and that developers sometimes have to deal with issues they never anticipated, such as setting up legal entities and bank accounts, filling out paperwork to obtain sponsorships, and creating a financial reporting process. The organization therefore offers a portfolio of support programs to its communities. The service portfolio is quite wide-ranging, spanning areas such as project operations, training, certification, and event management. Many projects and organizations find the range of services quite attractive. For example, FINOS, an organization that promotes open source for financial services, joined the Linux Foundation in 2020 in part to benefit from the "support program offerings including but not limited to training, certification and events management".

We live in a time where virtual machines can be deployed with the click of a button. Stripe, a financial technology (fintech) company, provides the Atlas platform to seamlessly form a company. The platform promises to remove "lengthy paperwork, legal complexity, and numerous fees". Would better tooling allow organizations to meet all the administrative needs of open-source projects with the click of a few buttons?

LFX

The Linux Foundation launched CommunityBridge in 2019, as a platform of tools to serve open-source developers, including for fundraising and security. The platform was rebranded as LFX in November 2020, and its scope was expanded to cover more areas. Tools that are available today include ones for crowdfunding, mentorship, community events, contributor license agreements, and more.

When CommunityBridge was originally launched, it was criticized by the Software Freedom Conservancy as a "proprietary software system". Heeding this criticism, the LFX announcement mentions plans to "release much of this code as open source in the near future". However, it's not clear why this initiative didn't start as open source from its inception, especially given Linux Foundation's focus on open collaboration through open source. To be fair, though, some LFX tools incorporate third-party applications, which may make it harder to publish the code.

The Linux Foundation is also sometimes criticized for its focus on larger projects that can attract corporate backers and funding. The LFX Platform Use Agreement reflects that focus by differentiating between projects managed by the Linux Foundation ("TLF Project") and others ("Community Project"). While the majority of the LFX tools are currently only available to Linux Foundation projects, several tools (including crowdfunding and mentorship) are available to any open-source project. It's not clear from the web site which additional tools will be available to community projects in the future, but it seems possible that the scope will be expanded.

Linux Foundation projects can benefit from Insights, a data-driven tool to measure the health and sustainability of projects. Insights shows metrics about both the source code and the community, such as top contributors; the tool can be used to identify areas where the project should focus its resources. Member Enrollment assists with the onboarding of new members, such as by offering role-based email subscriptions. Community Events enables virtual-event hosting and the management of attendee lists; other tools are available or under development.

Community projects can raise funds through LFX Crowdfunding by connecting the tool with their GitHub project repositories. The platform also allows crowdfunding for events, open-source initiatives, and travel funds. The Linux Foundation covers all of the fees for the first ten-million dollars raised through the platform; after that, a 5% platform fee plus a payment processor fee will be charged. There are no fees for the other tools on the LFX platform.

Currently, the majority of projects on LFX are affiliated with the Linux Foundation. However, more community projects may evaluate the platform for their needs in the future, especially if additional tools become available to community projects. It will be interesting to watch the progress and adoption of LFX. If the tools mature and eventually released as open source, it's possible that other umbrella organizations could integrate them into their infrastructure.

Open Collective: transparent crowdfunding

Another initiative that has developed an interesting platform is Open Collective. It allows projects to accept donations and sponsorship, pay expenses, and to keep donors informed. Open Collective puts a strong emphasis on openness and the company itself operates in an open manner. It publishes metrics and other documents on Google Drive, and runs its finances through its own platform. The source code is open source. The requirements for openness expand to those using the platform: donations and expenses are visible in public (although donors can stay anonymous).

Open Collective itself is a software platform and it's made available to projects through a number of fiscal hosts. Open Source Collective brings the platform to open-source projects and currently serves around 2,500 projects ("collectives"), including Qubes OS and F-Droid. The platform charges 10% of incoming funds, plus payment processor fees. Projects using the Open Collective platform can also receive funding through GitHub Sponsors, which is an increasingly popular way to support open-source projects.

Of course, fundraising and paying expenses is only a small part of what FOSS foundations typically offer. Open Source Collective can also manage trademarks with the help of trademark expert Pamela Chestek, but other services are not currently offered. Providing a neutral organization to hold domain-name ownership would be an interesting addition. Nevertheless, funding and trademarks cover the basic needs of many projects, thereby removing the need to start their own organization and deal with the associated paperwork. Open Source Collective, as the legal entity, will take care of that.

In addition to Open Source Collective, which is open to any open-source project, there are other FOSS foundations that use Open Collective. The WordPress Foundation and the .NET Foundation use the crowdfunding platform for their organizations and member projects. Open Collective is a great example of how tooling can solve a problem that many organizations have.

Summary

FOSS foundations offer important services to open-source projects, but operating those organizations can be burdensome. Tooling has the potential to ease that burden, and to expand the services an organization can offer as well as the number of projects that can be served. These platforms also reduce the need for projects to start their own organizations, which is helpful in avoiding the surprise that comes from the unexpected work that entails.