The Open Source Way is a community-authored guidebook published by Red Hat that distills practical wisdom on building and sustaining open source communities. It covers the full lifecycle of open source community management, from attracting and onboarding new contributors to establishing governance structures and resolving conflicts. The guide addresses topics including communication practices, community metrics, creating inclusive environments, and the relationship between corporate sponsors and volunteer contributors. Written collaboratively on GitHub, it exemplifies the open source principles it advocates and serves as a living document that evolves with the community’s collective experience. It is particularly relevant in Software Engineering, Citizen Science and Business.

The Open Source Way supports open source, community-based and distributed collaboration and is suited for organizational settings and community-scale initiatives in remote settings.

The Open Source Way is an established resource with a solid track record of use across multiple contexts. This article by Red Hat Community (2020) provides valuable reference material for researchers and practitioners.