2025-03-10 –, Wintergarten
When choosing a governance model for your open-source project, “foundation-backed” is a proven approach. We chose this path - and built a brand-new association from scratch. Learn why and how we created an independent home and what impact the transition from company-led to foundation-backed had on our open-source project Yaook and its community.
As open-source projects grow, reconsidering their governance model often becomes necessary. “Foundation-backed” is a classic option, where projects find a new home under an existing foundation. But what if no foundation quite fits your project’s needs? We faced this situation - and decided to build our own.
In 2022, seven companies founded ALASCA, a non-profit association for operational, open cloud-infrastructures, to provide an independent home for Yaook - an open-source tool originally managed by two companies. This talk explores why we chose to create a foundation ourselves and what the process involved. Besides organizational aspects (e.g., legal, finance, branding), we’ll specifically focus on the implications for Yaook and its community, both challenges as well as benefits.
We'll end with whether we recommend building an association and what to consider, which will hopefully benefit any attendees who are also concerned with their project’s governance.
Ariane is a Business Development Manager at Cloud&Heat Technologies and has been deeply involved in the community management of ALASCA - Association for Operational, Open Cloud Infrastructures e.V. for over two years. She contributed significantly to the founding of the association and helps oversee its ongoing development. Additionally, she's responsible for member support and various marketing activities.