Introduction
At Open Austin, openness is in our name and at the core of our values. This policy sets clear expectations for all contributors (whether you are a developer, designer, data and UX researcher, data analyst, or general community member) about how we handle ownership, credit, and open-source licensing.
Questions: We want this policy to be clear, fair, and aligned with our values. If you have questions about how it applies to your project or contribution, please reach out to the Open Austin board at info@open-austin.org or the #oa-admin channel in Slack.
Summary: If you make something for Open Austin, it must be openly licensed. We welcome standard open-source licenses as well as ethical and copy-left licenses that align with our mission. Design and research work should also be shared as openly as possible, with reasonable exceptions for privacy. And we will always give credit where it’s due.
1. We Build Everything Out in the Open
Openness means freely available and easily accessible. This ensures our work can be used, built upon, and trusted by the community we serve. Here’s how we approach different aspects of product development:
1A. Software Development Work
All software projects created for or with Open Austin must be released under an open license.
- We do not work on closed-source projects. If you choose to work on a closed-source project, you're welcome to be part of our community, but we won't advertise it with our members, partners, and broader audience.
- Contributors may choose a license that ensures the work remains accessible to the community and aligned with our values. Acceptable licenses include:
- Standard OSI-approved licenses (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, GPL).
- Public domain and “unlicensed” licenses:
- Copy-left and values-based licenses that may go beyond OSI approval, such as:
- Creative Commons licenses (e.g., CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-SA).
- Ethical or purpose-based licenses that restrict use (e.g. non-commercial clauses), as long as the project remains openly accessible.
To remain public with clear licensing, projects will be hosted under the Open Austin GitHub organization. Exceptions (i.e. hosting under your own GitHub account) are granted on a rare, case-by-case basis and will be forked by Open Austin.
1B. Design & UX Research Work
Design artifacts (wireframes, prototypes, style guides, etc.) should be shared publicly whenever possible.
- These can live in a public repository, a design-sharing platform, or a documented archive.
Research artifacts:
- Primary data that may violate privacy (e.g., raw interview recordings, participant-identifiable notes) do not need to be shared.
- However, anonymized findings, summaries, and insights should be made public when possible.
We recognize that not all design and research outputs can be fully open, but our bias is towards transparency. If you have a question about a specific piece of work, reach out and we'll discuss.
1C. Data Analysis & Data Research Work
- Methodology will be written in a report hosted in the Open Austin Google Drive, and you will be credited.
- Data work will be hosted in your Tableau Public account. When finished, the workbook will be copied to Open Austin’s Tableau Public account and credited to you.
- Webapps developed from data research will follow Section 1: We Build Everything Out in the Open
2. Credit & Acknowledgement
We believe in clear and generous attribution:
All individual contributors will be credited by name (or organization, if applicable) in project documentation, READMEs, or other appropriate places.
- Contributions from outside partners should be described accurately, if a project originated with a community partner, they will be listed as such.
- Open Austin may promote, present, or demo projects publicly. When doing so, we will include proper credit to contributors.
Tip: If you feel credit was missed, tell us right away. We want to fix it!
3. Governance & Ownership
- Open Austin is a volunteer-led organization. Projects are community-owned, not proprietary to any one individual or group.
- If you are leading a project under the Open Austin umbrella, you agree to the following:
- Use an open license from the start.
- Share documentation and progress in a way that others can contribute.
- Be open to collaboration. Our goal is community benefit, not exclusive control.
Thank You
Open Austin’s contributor policy is based on years of viewing various policies and additional input from:
- Umberto Fasci
- Aslan French
- Glenn Katzen
- Liani Lye
- Ashwin Prakash
- Courtney Rosenthal
- Nicola Rowe
- Pooja Shah