This page outlines the requirements for each type of project.
Direct Projects
Direct Projects are designed from the ground up and maintained by Freedom to Write.
Requirements
License
Here are approved licenses for Freedom to Write's Direct Projects:
- No-Attribution Content: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
- Attribution-Required Content: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- No-Attribution Code and Software: Zero-Clause BSD (0BSD)
- Attribution-Required Code and Software: Apache License, Version 2.0 (Apache-2.0) or The MIT License (MIT)
We do of course recommend these licenses to other projects, regardless of their membership status within Freedom to Write.
Hosting
A Direct Project must have its code hosted using a public sourceforge under an account or organization controlled by Freedom to Write. It must also have a landing page hosted by Freedom to Write on a subdomain of freedomtowrite.org.
Documentation
Documentation for Freedom to Write must be comprehensive and kept up to date. It must be clearly linked to from the project's homepage and the README of the code repository.
Once officially released, Direct Projects must have comprehensive contribution guides.
Dependencies and Toolchain
Freedom to Write Direct Projects must not require dependences or development tools that use licenses not approved by the Open Source Initiative.
Member Projects
Member Projects have applied to be a part of Freedom to Write and were reviewed by us, though they are maintained by community members, not directly by Freedom to Write.
Applying
Applications are not currently open.
Requirements
License
Member projects must use a license approved by the Open Source Initiative for software.
Content-based projects will need their licenses approved on a case by case basis, but CC0 1.0 and CC BY 4.0 are safe bets.
Dependencies and Toolchain
Member projects must not require dependences, services, or development tools that use licenses not approved by the Open Source Initiative. This includes methods of communication between developers; for example, a project whose primary communication method is Discord will not be approved. Proprietary communication methods may be used for secondary communication, but it must be possible for contributors to work on the project and communicate with its maintainers without interacting with proprietary software.
More notably, this means a member project cannot be hosted with GitHub, as it is proprietary software and contributors would be forced to have accounts with a proprietary service (GitHub) to be able to contribute. We recommend Codeberg as an excellent alternative, though there are other options.
Contribution
Member projects must both accept contributors and have clear contribution guidelines and instructions posted in an easy-to-find location.
Notability
Member projects should fulfill roles and niches not covered by existing Free and Open Source Software. This can be through:
- A unique take on an existing idea
- A replacement for proprietary software (where such replacements don't already exist)
- A significant extension of existing software
This requirement is of course very subjective and will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
Non-Official Projects
Non-official projects have few requirements and are added largely on a case-by-case basis by Freedom to Write staff.
The few requirements are:
- The code must use a license approved by the Open Source Initiative
- The project must allow contributors and issue reports
We of course prefer projects that meet the criteria outlined for Member Projects, but not all of those criteria will be required for recommended (but non-official) projects.