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FAQ

What is this project?​

ClearlyDefined is an open source project to crowd-source the gathering, curation, and upstreaming of licensing and security (and more) data about free and open source projects. The ultimate goal being to help projects thrive by more clearly defining their contract and status.

What's the governance model of ClearlyDefined?​

This is an open source project like any other. The source code is licensed under the MIT license and all the data is distributed under CC0. The project is managed by the Open Source Initiative. You can find the Charter of the organization here. We adhere to the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct.

How is ClearlyDefined different than other projects like SPDX, OpenChain, etc.?​

Other technologies like SPDX, OpenChain, Quartermaster, etc. are complementary to ClearlyDefined. Where they bring tools, process, approaches, and data formats, ClearlyDefined brings the data itself. In this way ClearlyDefined is the proverbial missing piece. ClearlyDefined is similar to libraries.io though we vary in breadth and depth.

This is awesome, how can I/we/my organization get involved?​

There are lots of different ways to get involved. So many in fact that we wrote a whole document on how to get involved. Check out the doc and pick the means that best suits your needs.

Who is behind ClearlyDefined?​

ClearlyDefined is currently managed by the Open Source Initiative. It started with work in the Microsoft Open Source Programs Office but quickly attracted folks from an array of organizations (foundations and companies). For details of current participants, check out the partners page.