Managing an Open Source Project. A Checklist of Issues to Consider

This resource was first developed by attendees at the July 29, 2024 Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative community call for the Essential Open Source Software program.

This resource is intended to be a conversation-starter for open source software project leaders, their collaborators, staff, and community. We know that some of these items are substantial, resource-heavy requests for an open science community and we don’t intend that this is a comprehensive list of topics, nor a limiting one.

The check list include this topics:

• Fundraising
  • Organizational Structure
  • Bylaws, Legal, and Tax Considerations
• Developing and Maintaining the Project
  • Managing Contribution
  • Planning for the future of your project
• Marketing the Project
  • Communications plan
  • Documentation
  • Marketing
• Managing the Project at Scale
  • Community Roles
  • Scoping
  • Governance
  • Community Health
  • Individual Growth

The full list with resources can be access on the checklist webpage.