Open Source Governance

Definitions

1. The rules and decision-making structures that determine how an open source project sets direction, grants authority, resolves disputes, and manages contributors. Governance shapes trust and sustainability just as much as the code or license does.

   In plain English: The way an open source project decides who has authority and how decisions get made.

   Example: "The fork happened because open source governance had never been clarified after the original founder stepped back."

Related Terms

• Benevolent Dictator
• AOSP
• Cathedral and the Bazaar
• Contributor Covenant
• IRC
• Open Source Community
• Open Source Maintainer
• Slashdot
• The Cathedral
• Ubuntu Community
• Apache Foundation
• Committer
• Forking Etiquette
• Open Governance
• Electron Community
• Emacs Community
• Open Design