Donating a Project

DESCRIPTION

Projects started outside of the Green Software Foundation (GSF) can be donated to the Green Software Foundation.

BENEFIT

  • Neutral Project home fostering collaborative, open development with a path to maturity via the trusted graduation/ratification process.
  • Project is available to attract contribution from our 50+ member organisations, who are working towards greener software development.
  • Project receives marketing support from GSF, including being listed on the GSF website and shared with our audience via newsletter updates.
  • Project will receive mentorship in areas such as, but not limited to, project management, governance, legal, tooling, security best practices and documentation.

ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

To commence donation to the GSF, a project must meet the Incubation acceptance criteria listed in the Project Lifecycle, and listed below:

  • Have a representative of at least one GSF member company participating, who is a WG attendee, who will champion the project, volunteer to run it as project lead and share updates at the WG.
  • Have an assigned GSF PM.
  • Similar or competitive projects are allowed. Projects are not excluded for reasons of overlap.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of the body proposing to donate a project to the Green Software Foundation to connect with one of the Green Software Foundation’s working groups and the associated GSF PM.

If the body proposing to donate a project to the Green Software Foundation is a GSF member company, they can continue to work on and run the project but jointly share it with other GSF member companies.

If the body proposing to donate a project to the Green Software Foundation is a non-GSF member company, they must find a representative of at least one GSF member company, who is a WG attendee, to take over the project. The conditions in the Appendix below must be met.

The body proposing to donate a project to the Green Software Foundation (GSF), you must transfer complete ownership of the project over to the foundation. This transfer of ownership includes all intellectual property associated with the project, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and any other proprietary rights. By transferring ownership, you surrender all rights and authority over the project, and the Green Software Foundation will assume full responsibility for the future development, management, and distribution of the project.

It is important to understand that the transfer of ownership is mandatory based on the rules specified in the GSF Charter. This charter outlines the Foundation’s goals, principles, and objectives, which focus on promoting software solutions that are sustainable, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly. Therefore, it is necessary for the Foundation to have full ownership of the projects it supports to ensure that they align with its mission and values. The project must also comply with the licensing conditions of the Working Group eg. OSWG must use MIT.

Upon submission, the Green Software Foundation will evaluate the project to ensure it meets the Foundation’s criteria and standards. If the project is approved, the Foundation will provide support, resources, and guidance to assist the project in succeeding. However, the proposer will no longer have any rights or control over the project and must be willing to relinquish ownership entirely before submitting the project.

The body proposing to donate a project to the Green Software Foundation is expected to support the donation handover period of the project by providing a minimum standard of documentation and training to the representative(s) of at least one GSF member company willing to take on the project, to set the project up for success within the GSF.

APPROVAL PROCESS

The donating body must submit the Donation proposal template issue to the Working Group for consensus approval.

Once WG approval is gained, the GSF PM must submit an issue to the Oversight Committee repo for awareness. They have 2 weeks to comment / object.

Project donation proposals which are deemed by the WG/OC to be of high risk, for example potential reputation damage, financial risk, litigation risk, greenwashing concern, must also be reviewed by the Steering Committee.

APPROVING BODY

Working Group, with notification to Oversight Committee.

APPENDIX :

Project Donation From A Non-Member

  1. Intellectual Property: This refers to any creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, designs, and names used in commerce. It’s important to review the intellectual property involved in a project to ensure that there are no infringements or conflicts with existing patents, trademarks, or copyrights.

  2. Source Code Copyright Agreement: This agreement outlines the terms and conditions under which the source code of a software product can be used, modified, and distributed. It’s important to review this agreement to ensure that it complies with the project’s goals and objectives.

  3. Dataset License Agreement: This agreement outlines the terms and conditions under which a dataset can be used, modified, and distributed. It’s important to review this agreement to ensure that the dataset is being used in compliance with any legal and ethical guidelines.

  4. Patent Policy: This refers to a set of guidelines that dictate how patents are managed within an organization. It’s important to review the patent policy to ensure that it aligns with the project’s goals and objectives and that any potential patent issues are addressed in a fair and consistent manner.

Non-Member Agreement to be Signed By Donating Contributor or Organization

The [Green Software Foundation] (the “Project”) would like to receive input, contributions, suggestions and other feedback (“Contributions”) on the specifications, documents, source code, data, and other artifacts being developed within its working groups (the “Materials”). By signing below, you (on behalf of yourself if you are an individual and your company if you are providing Contributions on behalf of the company) grant the Project under all applicable intellectual property rights owned or Controlled by you or your company a non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, disclose, copy, publish, license, modify, sublicense or otherwise distribute and exploit Contributions you provide for the purpose of developing and promoting the Materials and in connection with any product that implements and complies with the Materials. You warrant to the best of your knowledge that you have the rights to provide this Contributions, and if you are providing Contributions on behalf of a company, you warrant that you have the rights to provide Contributions on behalf of your company. You also acknowledge that the Project is not required to incorporate your Contributions into any version of the Materials. You further agree that you and your company will not disclose it or distribute drafts of the non-public Project Materials to third parties. Unless the parties agree otherwise or the Project Materials are made publicly available by the Project, this obligation of non-disclosure will expire five (5) years from the date the material was disclosed to you.

Source Code

Any source code you provide to the Project is subject to the Developer Certificate of Origin version 1.1, available at http://developercertificate.org/ and the license indicated in the Project’s source repository for the Materials.

Dataset

Any data you provide to the Project is subject to the license agreement indicated in the Project’s source repository for the Materials.

Signature

Print Name:

Title:

Company Name (if applicable):

Email:

Address:

Date:

Note: Prior to any agreement, the GSF Legal Outside Council will review all proposed project donations.