MDRSS source snapshot. Source: github/opensource.guide (https://github.com/github/opensource.guide). Pinned commit: b594108b4f344ea9968734c8076273e8b4954b8d. License: CC-BY-4.0. Conditions: Credit the author/source, link the license, and indicate modifications. Imported 2026-08-02T15:45:37.739Z from the reviewed catalog entry github-opensource-guide.

Open Source Guides

Open Source Guides (https://opensource.guide/) are a collection of resources for individuals, communities, and companies who want to learn how to run and contribute to an open-source project.

Background

Open Source Guides were created and are curated by GitHub, along with input from outside community reviewers, but they are not exclusive to GitHub products. One reason we started this project is that we felt that there weren't enough resources for people creating open-source projects.

Our goal was to aggregate community best practices, not what GitHub (or any other individual or entity) thinks is best. Therefore, we used examples and quotations from others to illustrate our points.

Contributing

This site is powered by Jekyll. Check out our contributing guidelines for ways to offer feedback and contribute.

Licenses

Content is released under CC-BY-4.0. See notices for complete details, including attribution guidelines, contribution terms, and software and third-party licenses and permissions.

Acknowledgments

The initial release of these guides was authored by @nayafia, @bkeepers, @stephbwills, and @mlinksva.

Thanks to @aitchabee, @benbalter, @brettcannon, @caabernathy, @coralineada, @dmleong, @ericholscher, @gr2m, @janl, @jessfraz, @bluesomewhere, @kfogel, @kytrinyx, @lee-dohm, @mikeal, @mikemcquaid, @nathansobo, @nruff, @nsqe, @orta, @parkr, @shazow, @steveklabnik, and @wooorm for lending their valuable input and expertise leading up to the initial release, and to @sophshep and @jeejkang for designing and illustrating the guides.

Disclaimer

While we've got advice about running an open source project, we're not lawyers. Be sure to read our disclaimer before diving in.