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DannyB [soylentnews.org] writes:

Seven Stages of Open Software [coiled.io]

This post lays out the different stages of openness in Open Source Software (OSS) and the benefits and costs of each.

[ . . . . ] Is Linux as open as TensorFlow? How about my personal project? Is that the same? [ . . . . ]

To help give depth to this topic, this post structures opening software into a sequence of stages of openness.

1. Publicly visible source code: We uploaded our code to GitHub
2. Licensed for reuse: And let people use it for free
3. Accepting contributions: And if they submit a patch, we’ll take the time to look at it, and work with them to merge it in
4. Open development: And when we work we’ll make sure that all of our communication happens in the open as well, so that others can see what we’re doing and why
5. Open decision making: And that communication will be open to the public, so that everyone can weigh in, vote, and determine what happens to the project
6. Multi-institution engagement: So much so that no single institution or individual has control over the project
7. Retirement: So now we can retire, and know that the software will live on forever

To be clear, I’m not advocating that going deeper into this hierarchy is a good thing. Often it’s more productive to stop somewhere around 3 to 5 [ . . . ]

What about code written merely to solve one person's problem or to amuse themself?

Original Submission