FOSS Governance Programs: Why do You Need One?

November 2017Corporate Governance Banking & Finance

Abstract

Free and Open Source Software (“FOSS”) has been an established part of software coding for some time. In the words of “FOSSCON 2017”: In the early days FOSS was primarily a hobbyist alternative, but today it has become ubiquitous, making its way into our phones, our cars, our schools, government, offices and home appliances. With the proliferation of FOSS, technology companies are leveraging its value as they incorporate it into their products. Many technology companies also balance the risks associated with that use through formal FOSS governance programs. FOSS governance programs (also referred to as FOSS compliance programs) provide an end-to-end solution for understanding FOSS usage in an enterprise, reviewing requests to use FOSS, complying with FOSS licenses, protecting against the risk involved in the use of FOSS, and, therefore, facilitating the use of FOSS in an organization’s technology.

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FOSS Governance Programs: Why do You Need One?

Abstract

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