The Four Opens are a set of principles guidelines that were created by the OpenStack community as a way to guarantee that the users get all the benefits associated with open source software, including the ability to engage with the community and influence future evolution of the software.
Under these guidelines, the OpenStack community grew from tens of contributors to thousands, creating one of the top three most active open source projects in the world behind the Linux Kernel and Chromium. The Four Opens were instrumental not only in this success but also in building a thriving, global community.
We at OpenInfra Foundation consider The Four Opens our guiding principles in everything we do.
How we practiced the Four Opens has evolved over time and incorporates many practices: public code reviews, design summits, technical committee, and lazy consensus. Earlier this year, the Open Infrastructure Foundation started the Four Opens Book as a way to share these learnings and how the Four Opens were initially intended for upstream, and how they proved applicable to downstream activities such as user feedback gathering, marketing, or event management. As the Open Infrastructure Foundation grows to more generally support Open Infrastructure, the Four Opens will grow alongside it.
We welcome you to read the book or contribute and share your open source learnings as this book continues to evolve and reflect our values.
Learn more about the Four Opens, the value they bring, and the responsibility of the community that upholds them to be mentors for the next wave of new members with Aeva Black, Azure Office of the CTO at Microsoft, on the OpenInfra Live: Keynotes.