Open Source Software Virtual Incubator

tl;dr

We want ambitious and innovative ideas to systemically improve the sustainability of the OSS ecosystem. Promising proposals that are selected might include mini-grants up to $10K or larger ($100K+) grants.
Ways to get involved:
1. Submit a proposal by making a PR or filling out this form;
2. Sign up on this form if you're interested in receiving updates and more information on how to apply for the Incubator;
3. Discuss by giving feedback on existing proposals, or asking questions, through GitHub Discussions.
4. Find a time to meet with our staff here if you want to discuss any questions or specific ideas.
We plan to provide further support, such as grants / funding, to promising ideas and proposals.

Introduction

👋 Hi there! We'd like to try a little experiment to help source, improve, and fund the best ideas to improve OSS sustainability, in a public way. Rather than a traditional RFP process, where the submissions are private, we hope a public submission process creates a resource for the entire community to give feedback on, improve, and collect proposals together. Promising ideas will be provided support such as funding / grants or other expertise from us or our partners.

Want to talk to further discuss your idea or any questions? Find a time here.

1. Ideas wanted

Like roads and bridges for the digital world, open source software (OSS) makes up much of our digital infrastructure and underlies many critical software systems, both public and private. Some of the most popular apps and websites are open source as well. Often referred to as "free and open source software" (FOSS), OSS can be used, modified, and shared by the public according to its terms of distribution.

However, OSS faces a sustainability problem. While some OSS projects are well-resourced by companies and non-profit organizations, other OSS code is maintained and released by people who struggle to monetize their work. Moreover, flaws in OSS has been used to mount supply chain attacks such as Heartbleed and, more recently, log4j. Traditional methods of resourcing OSS development and maintenance – such as corporate or philanthropic donations, crowdsourcing, or volunteer time – may not be enough.

We are seeking the most ambitious and innovative ideas to systemically improve the sustainability of the OSS ecosystem. We welcome ideas from around the world, and they can range from (but are not limited to) research proposals to specific technical improvements to institution-building to policymaking ideas. Here are some (not exhaustive) examples: "implement X feature in a certain package manager", "perform dependency mapping of the OSS ecosystem", "create a training program for OSS maintainers to learn how to apply to grants", "create a mechanism for the US National Science Foundation to better fund critical OSS libraries", "use X web3 mechanism to create incentives to fund OSS tools", "develop tools or new methodologies to predict open source sustainability or community health".

For more details, see our write-up in the WSJ: Protect Open-Source Software (non-paywalled version).

2. Submit a proposal

If you'd like to submit a proposal yourself, you have two options:

Fork this repo and make a copy of PROPOSAL-TEMPLATE.md. Write up your proposal in the proposals directory, then make a pull request to this repository.
If you'd rather just use a form, fill out this form. If you'd like to keep the submission private, please mention so in the form; otherwise we will copy over your proposal to this GitHub repository.

Other ways to get involved:

Sign up on this form if you're interested in receiving updates and more information on how to apply for the Incubator or
Find a time to meet with our staff here if you want to discuss any questions or specific ideas.
Discuss by giving feedback on existing proposals, or asking questions, through GitHub Discussions.

3. Next steps after submitting

Proposals are currently reviewed on a rolling basis. Once you submit it as a PR, expect the following steps after submitting:

Within a week, we will conduct an initial review of your PR and ask some initial questions / feedback.
After the feedback is addressed, we will merge your PR into the repository.
We will create a Discussion topic where you and others can discuss the proposal.
Within a few weeks, we will get back to you privately within a couple of weeks with an idea of what kind of support we might be able to provide, as well as the timelines through we might be able to help.

Further support may include further feedback from policy and technical experts, access to a community of policymakers and technical engineers to help you realize your idea, and grant money from us or other partners / funders to help realize the idea. This might include (but is not limited to):

Mini-grants up to $10,000 to support the idea
Larger grants ($100K+) for more developed and large-scale ideas
Help with legislative and government advocacy for a particular policy idea

Note that certain kinds of support (such as network and connections / policy feedback, smaller grants) may be possible on a quicker time scale than other types of support (larger grants).

Once a proposal is submitted, you can also submit modifications to your proposal and we will review it again.

4. Current funding priorities

While we encourage you to share any proposal that systemically addresses the sustainability of the OSS ecosystem, here are the current funding priorities from Plaintext Group:

July - December 2022 (current)

We plan for 2022 to focus more narrowly on informing and strengthening US federal policy open source software. This involves three main categories:

Emphasizing that "OSS is infrastructure" so it can be seen as something to be maintained long-term. Additionally, broaden the concept of OSS / digital infrastructure to include aspects that may not have been traditionally funded (such as code refactoring, maintenance, community management, and documentation writing).
Helping catalyze and support the implementation of additional avenues of public (US federal government) funding for OSS.
Ensuring that policymakers get feedback and input from the OSS community that they are affecting with their policies. This might involve, for example, additional policymaker education on OSS, or greater OSS community education and engagement with policy.

FAQ

What is Plaintext Group?

Plaintext Group is a technology innovation policy initiative being developed by Schmidt Futures. Schmidt Futures' incubation of Plaintext Group is part of our effort to take on important public problems where systemic solutions may be available, by creating interdisciplinary institutions of exceptional people.

Partner organizations

TBD. If you are interested in collaborating with us, drop us a note at contact@plaintextgroup.com.

Why did you start this?

We'd like to fund systemic improvements in the open source software ecosystem – rather than just funding a specified list of OSS projects, we'd like to take bets on risky or novel ideas that may have an outsize impact and improve sustainability for a wide variety of projects within the open source software ecosystem. Rather than a traditional RFP process, where the submissions are private, we hope a public submission process creates a resource for the entire community to give feedback on, improve, and collect proposals together.

Does a proposal to improve a specific OSS project count?

As long as it fits the goal of systemically improving the sustainability of the OSS ecosystem, it counts.

Do OSS security proposals count?

Yes, OSS security is a big part of sustainability and falls within scope.

My organization would like to collaborate with you on this initiative. How can we help?

Please drop us a note at contact@plaintextgroup.com.

I think XXX is unclear in this README and the Incubator can be improved in XXX way.

Feel free to make a pull request!

I have more questions.

Please file an issue or send us an email!

ramcq/oss-virtual-incubator