Rule 2: Work and communicate publicly

Transparency becomes the rule, not the exception. Put another way by Karl Fogel in ‘Producing Open Source Software’: “If there’s no reason for it to be private, it should be public.”

There are many interests involved. The most obvious is that you’re looking to include external contributors to collaborate on your project, it helps to encapacitate and involve them in the development process.

The more people have the right information about a situation, the more they’ll be able to act on it and help.

An open project is based on a common need and becomes the property of all, so being inclusive fosters a sense of belonging and ownership of the resource which becomes a driving force for the construction of the project.

Take a structure that seeks to put open collaboration in place but only communicates final decisions, the community’s exclusion from the decision-making process will create some resentment.

Acting publicly will enable a whole exchange of ideas and (constructive 🤞) criticism from the outside which will enrich the final decision. Conflict of ideas can be beneficial if we are able to recognize the good ideas of others.

Private discussions should be kept to a minimum, and used only when absolutely necessary.

Open models is about learning to work in the public space.