The CHAOSS Community: Understanding and Measuring Open Source Health

CHAOSS Community, short for Community Health Analytics for Open Source Software, is a Linux Foundation project dedicated to defining and implementing metrics that help evaluate the health of open source communities. Established in 2017, the community brings together software developers, researchers, project managers, and other stakeholders with a shared interest in understanding the fundamentals of sustainable open source projects. Since its inception, CHAOSS has grown into a vibrant hub that supports open collaboration, fosters diversity and inclusion, and encourages the adoption of best practices that strengthen the foundations of open source ecosystems.

Mission and Core Focus

The core mission of the CHAOSS Community centers on a common goal: to develop metrics, methodologies, and software tools that elucidate what makes open source communities successful and resilient. Community health can include factors such as diversity, code quality, community engagement, and governance. By breaking these concepts into clear, actionable metrics, CHAOSS helps open source maintainers and contributors better understand where their communities thrive and what areas might benefit from additional attention. These metrics also serve as an educational reference for new projects aiming to build inclusive and robust communities from the ground up.

Collaborative Approach

One notable aspect of CHAOSS is its focus on collaboration and openness. The project supports various working groups that center on different dimensions of community health, such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Evolution; Risk; Common Metrics; Value; App Ecosystem; and Scientific Software. Each working group is open for anyone to join, and meetings are conducted transparently, allowing participants to share insights, raise questions, and propose novel approaches to community evaluation. By keeping participation open, CHAOSS encourages people from diverse backgrounds and professional experiences to contribute their knowledge, ensuring that the metrics they develop are useful and relevant to a wide variety of open source communities.

Software Tools for Data Collection and Visualization

Another unique feature of CHAOSS is the development of software tools that implement the metrics defined by the community. Augur, GrimoireLab, and Cauldron.io are among the key tools that facilitate data collection and visualization for open source projects. These tools ingest data from common repositories and collaboration platforms, such as GitHub or GitLab, to provide a real-time snapshot of how project metrics evolve. By analyzing commit history, pull requests, issue tracking, mailing lists, and other forms of communication, these tools help project leaders quickly identify areas of success or concern. This capability is particularly relevant for large open source projects where manual tracking of metrics can be time-consuming and prone to human error.

Emphasis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

CHAOSS also places a strong emphasis on inclusivity and social responsibility by recognizing that metrics are not purely quantitative measures of code commits or resolved issues. Factors like community outreach, mentorship programs, and supportive documentation can have a profound impact on an open source project’s sustainability. Through regular discussions, interactive workshops, and conference presentations, CHAOSS encourages the open source community to view diversity and equity as integral components of growth and resilience.

Leadership and Governance

Leadership within the CHAOSS Community is driven by a governance system designed to ensure representation from different working groups. This approach cultivates a culture of shared responsibility that fosters continuous improvement of metrics, methodologies, and software tools. By consistently revisiting and refining these resources, CHAOSS strives to stay at the forefront of the rapidly evolving open source landscape. The community’s efforts are made stronger by the Linux Foundation’s support, which helps facilitate collaboration among different stakeholder groups, including corporate contributors, independent developers, and non-profit organizations.

Participation and Outreach

Participation in the CHAOSS Community is free and open. Regular weekly and monthly meetings are held online, and these meetings are an effective forum for sharing advancements, seeking guidance on data collection or analysis, and establishing best practices. The community also organizes and attends global events to broaden its outreach, encourage knowledge exchange, and invite more collaborators to contribute to its mission of open source community health analytics.

References

CHAOSS Community Website: https://chaoss.community
CHAOSS GitHub Repository: https://github.com/chaoss
CHAOSS Metrics Documentation: https://chaoss.community/metrics