Skip to main content
All Posts By

Shane Coughlan

Shane Coughlan is an expert in communication, security and business development. His professional accomplishments include spearheading the licensing team that elevated Open Invention Network into the largest patent non-aggression community in history, establishing the leading professional network of Open Source legal experts and aligning stakeholders to launch both the first law journal and the first law book dedicated to Open Source. Shane has extensive knowledge of Open Source governance, internal process development, supply chain management and community building. His experience includes engagement with the enterprise, embedded, mobile and automotive industries.

OpenChain Overview Slides Updated

By News

The OpenChain Overview Slides have been updated, providing our latest (and best) introduction to the project, to our industry standard and to our educational material. These slides are available in PDF, PPTX and ODP formats under the CC Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (you can share these slides freely). The PPTX and ODP versions contains extensive speaker notes.

Questions, comments and suggestions? You can reach out to the project on our main mailing list here:

You can also join one of our bi-weekly calls. Details to join here:

Get the Slides:

Get these guides and many more documents in the OpenChain Reference Library.

OpenChain @ Software Compliance Academy Seminar – 16th November

By News
Software Compliance Academy, one of OpenChain’s pilot program partners, is hosting an open source seminar on the 16th of November in Munich. This event will include information on OpenChain and will provide a suitable onboarding point for organizations interested in participation. All interested parties can register for the event by reaching out to Catharina Maracke at cmaracke@scompliance.com.

Event Overview in German:

Hiermit moechte ich Sie gerne auf ein Seminar der Software Compliance Academy in Berlin am 16.11.2018 hinweisen, welches neben den rechtlichen Grundlagen zum Thema Open Source Compliance auch einen vertieften Einblick in die Möglichkeiten des Software Scanning und Lizenzmanagement geben wird. Im Mittelpunkt der Veranstaltung stehen dabei die folgenden Fragen:
– Welche rechtlichen Fragestellungen wirft das Open Source Lizenzmodell auf?
– Welche Anforderungen sind an das Lizenzmanagement und an interne Prozessabläufe zu stellen?
– Welchen Mehrwert kann der Einsatz sogenannter Software Scanning Tools oder Software Lizenzmanagement Tools bringen?
Das detaillierte Programm finden Sie unter diesem Link:
https://www.scompliance.com/files/uploads/seminare/FOSSCompliance16112018.pdf
Bei Fragen oder Hinweisen steht Ihnen die Ansprechpartnerin der Software Compliance Academy, Catharina Maracke (cmaracke@scompliance.com) jederzeit gern zur Verfügung.

Learn More:

OpenChain Japan Work Group – Sixth Meeting – 31st October

By News

The OpenChain Japan Work Group held its sixth meeting on the 31st of December at the Toshiba / Lazona Kawasaki Building. This meeting featured 49 participants from 24 organizations, continuing our tradition of building out a broad and active local community. It was also the first meeting dedicated to the new subgroups and milestones for 2019.

You can read the minutes of this meeting in English here:

You can read the minutes of this meeting in Japanese here:

Outline of key talks and guided discussions during the event:

  1. Our motivations to get involve into OpenChain (Y. Kobayashi (Toshiba))
  2. OpenChain and Japan Work Group reviews (N. Imada (Hitachi))
  3. Sub WG1: Planning Sub WG status report (H. Fukuchi, A. Yamaoka (Sony))
  4. Sub WG2: Proposal to publish a leaflet for upper supply chain (S. Ueda (Sony))
  5. Sub WG3: Proposal to publish FAQ (Y. Ouchi (Fujitsu))
  6. Case study: “Question sheet about OSS usage” (S. Koizumi (Olympus))
  7. Proposal of our next plan and new Sub WGs (H. Fukuchi (Sony))
  8. Report: OpenChain workshop at ELC-E (S. Tokumoto (Fujitsu), S. Kato (Panasonic))

Forthcoming face-to-face meetings:

  • 2018/12/5 The seventh meeting will be held on Dec. 5, 2018.
    • Venue: TUV SUD Japan Office at Shinjuku(Tokyo)
  • 2019/2/28 The eighth meeting will be held on Feb. 28, 2019.
    • Venue: Mitsubishi Electric Head Office at Chiyoda(Tokyo)
  • 2019/4/xx The ninth meeting will be held on April, 2019.
    • Venue: Denso-Ten Office at Kobe(Hyogo)
  • 2018/12/5 第7回会合 2018125日(水)  
    • 場所:テュフズードジャパン(東京都新宿区)
  • 2019/2/28 第8回会合 2019228()
    • 場所:三菱電機 本社(東京都千代田区)
  • 2019/4/xx 第9回会合(計画中) 20194xx(x)
    • 場所:デンソーテン(兵庫県神戸市)計画中

Learn More:

OpenChain Japan Work Group – Milestones for the Future

By News

The OpenChain Japan Work Group has been planning a series of milestones for 2018 and 2019 via three new subgroups. These milestones include the creation of extensive guidance material regarding OpenChain adoption, inter-company communication, and open source policies. As with all OpenChain Curriculum material these documents are made available under CC-0 licensing for use, remixing and sharing for any purpose.

To learn more about this specific initiative see the slides below in English and Japanese. You can also be part of this activity via the OpenChain Japan mailing list or by attending any of the meetings hosted by our Japanese community members.

Curious about the titles, hosts and participants of each subgroup?

サブグループ活動 / Subgroups

  • Planning subgroup
    • Team Lead: Hiroyuki Fukuchi
    • Members: Teppei Asaba, Mutsumi Abe, Nobuo Imada, Satoru Ueda, Masato Endo, Yoshiko Ohuchi,Satoru Koizumi, Norio Kobota, Shinsuke Kato, Hiroshi Nozue, Yuji Nomura, Atsuhiro Yamaoka, Ayumi Watanabe
  • FAQ subgroup
    • Team Lead: Yoshiko Ohuchi (Fujitsu)
    • Members: Shuichi Awaji, Teruaki Itoh, Satoru Ueda, Masato Endo, Kazuyoshi Katagiri, Tomoki Kawamura, Manami Koshino, Norio Kobota, Naomichi Shima, Toru Taima, Shinichi Tanigawa, Hiroyuki Fukuchi, Yoshihiro Yasuda, Atsuhiro Yamaoka, Masato Yoshii
  • Leaflet for Sales subgroup
    • Team Lead: Satoru Ueda
    • Members: Teruaki Itoh, Kiyoshi Owada, Shisuke Kato
  • Planning サブグループ
    • チームリード:福地弘行
    • メンバー:浅羽鉄平、阿部睦、今田律夫、上田理、遠藤雅人、大内佳子、小泉悟、小保田規生、加藤慎介、野末浩志、野村祐治、山岡厚仁、渡邊歩
  • FAQ サブグループ
    • チームリード:大内佳子(富士通)
    • メンバー:淡路修一、伊藤輝昭、上田理、遠藤雅人、片桐和宣、川村知生、越野愛美、小保田規生、島直道、當麻徹、谷川真一、福地弘行、安田佳宏、山岡厚仁、吉井雅人
  • 営業向けリーフレット サブグループ
    • チームリード:上田理
    • メンバー:伊藤輝昭、大和田清志、加藤慎介

Learn More

Get these guides and many more documents in the OpenChain Reference Library.

OpenChain Japan Work Group – Meeting # 6

By News

The OpenChain Japan Work Group held its sixth meeting on the 31st of October between 2pm and 4:45pm at Toshiba Smart Community Center in Kanazawa. As with the previous five OpenChain Japan Work Group meetings discussion is expected to include a mix of structured reports, activity planning and case studies.

The Schedule

14:00  (5min)   Opening- H.Nozue
14:05  (10min)  Keynote: OpenChain Project updates – S.Coughlan
14:15  (20min)  Keynote: OpenChain and Toshiba activities- Y.Kobayashi
14:35  (10min)  OpenChain and Japan WG basic reviews- N.Imada
14:45  (40min)  Reports: SubWGs status (10minx3 + Q&C 10min)
– Planning SubWG status – H.Fukuchi, A.Yamaoka
– Level defined education (Ueda-san’s project) – TBD
– FAQ for beginners (Ouchi-san’s project) – K.Ouchi
– Questions & Comments
15:25 – 15:40 – break
15:40  (15min)  Case Study: “Form for clearing OSS usage” – S.Koizumi
15:55  (25min)  Discussion: next plan and new subWG proposal – H.Fukuchi
16:20  (20min)  Special Report: “OpenChain workshop @ ELC-E” – S.Kato,
T.Ueba
16:40  (5min) Announcement of Next meeting and Open Compliance Summit
16:45 – Closing

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the OpenChain Japan Work Group. This incredible team has built out one of the largest and most active open source compliance communities. Best of all, it is completely open, and has great gatherings every two months.

This year we held meetings at Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toyota, Fujitsu and Toshiba; TUV SUD Japan is scheduled for December. The meeting schedule for first half 2019 has already been published.

Learn More

OpenChain featured @ Software IP – An IAM Event

By News

The OpenChain Project is being featured today at the Software IP event hosted by IAM and located at Golden Gate Club at the Presidio, San Francisco.

Our representative is Hung Chang, Senior Product Counsel at Workday, and one of the founders of the OpenChain Project. You can catch his panel between 1 and 2pm.

Learn More:

Automatically Generating an offline OpenChain Conformance Handbook – Beta

By News
The OpenChain Project previously maintained a document for “manual OpenChain Conformance.” The idea was that companies could download, print and/or the document to suit workflows beyond our online conformance web app. You can find a version of that document here:
Gary O’Neall from our Conformance Work Team has been doing some exciting work to make it quicker and faster to create a manual conformance document. He is automating the creation from inside the conformance web app. Check it out here:
Check out the background code on GitHub:
This is still a beta and we are seeking comments. You can submit comments via the main OpenChain mailing list here:

Get these guides and many more documents in the OpenChain Reference Library.

OpenChain ♥ SPDX

By News

There is a lot of cross-pollination between Linux Foundation open source projects. The latest is a contribution from Fukuchi-San, a driving force in the OpenChain Japan WG, to SPDX. Motivated by a suggestion from Thomas Steenbergen at Open Source Summit Europe 2017 he has prepared a Japanese translation of the SPDX Specification. The draft document is available for comments, suggestions and improvements here:

About The Linux Foundation Compliance Stack

The OpenChain Project sits at the top of a stack of open source projects to address open source compliance. OpenChain is a high level standard defining the key requirements of a quality open source compliance program. Immediately below providing more specifics are the SPDX and TODO Group. The former is a standard for how the contents of software packages are described. The latter contains practical, timely information about how open source program offices can run. Moving further down the stack there are specific frameworks like FOSSology to scan code and confirm what software packages contain.

About The OpenChain Project

The OpenChain Project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent. The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements. The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

About The SPDX Project

Software Package Data Exchange® (SPDX®) is an open standard for communicating software bill of material information (including components, licenses, copyrights, and security references). SPDX reduces redundant work by providing a common format for companies and communities to share important data about software licenses, copyrights, and security references, thereby streamlining and improving compliance. The SPDX specification is developed by the SPDX workgroup, which is hosted by The Linux Foundation. The grass-roots effort includes representatives from more than 20 organizations—software, systems and tool vendors, foundations  and systems integrators—all committed to creating a standard for software package data exchange formats.

OpenChain Newsletter #18

By Monthly Newsletter


Newsletter – Issue 18 – October 2018

Context

The OpenChain Project has active bi-weekly calls and a central mailing list that provide the “nuts and bolts” of our community activity. These are joined by various releases of documents and announcements of OpenChain-related events throughout each month. We collect key developments in this newsletter once a month.

Introduction

October was an incredible month for the OpenChain Project. We had more outreach, more collaboration and more announcements than ever before. Key items include new membership from Toshiba, new conformance from SUSE, and the release of beta documents to help with initiating and tracking OpenChain Conformance.

New Member

The OpenChain Project, which builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent, announced Toshiba has become a Platinum Member. Toshiba has long been a driving force in the OpenChain Japan Work Group, and their new Platinum membership will enable the company to contribute even more to the global adoption of the OpenChain standard.

“OpenChain is not just a project for OSS license compliance, it also helps to improve mutual trust and effective communication between open source developers and users,” says Tetsuji Fukaya, Director of the Corporate Software Engineering and Technology Center of Toshiba Corporation. “Open source is publicly recognized as an essential part of digital transformation and widely used in numerous products. In order to use open source appropriately, we think that license compliance alone is not enough. Mutual trust between developers and users is also essential. OpenChain will be key to achieve both. For that reason, we feel proud of being part of the OpenChain Project.”

Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/23/toshiba-joins-the-openchain-project-as-a-platinum-member

New Conformant Organization

The OpenChain Project announced it has welcomed SUSE to its community of conformance. Conformance with the OpenChain Specification confirms that an organization follows the key requirements of a quality open source compliance program, and builds trust between organizations in the supply chain. SUSE is the first enterprise Linux distributor to earn conformance with the OpenChain Project Specification.

“For more than 25 years, SUSE has created and engaged with open source communities as a foundation for its enterprise solutions,” said Thomas Di Giacomo, SUSE CTO. “We always engage with the community to better meet customer needs, and our OpenChain certification is another indication to enterprises that we are committed to making their experience with open source software more reliable and cost effective.”

Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/23/suse-joins-the-openchain-community-of-conformance

Media

We began October with an interview from the EFY Group covering the key requirements of quaility open source compliance programs. Find out more here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/01/interview-openchain-project-managing-open-source-compliance-across-the-software-supply-chain

We continued with a Flexera Webinar designed to highlight OpenChain as a great starting point for any organization seeking to adopt the key processes of a quality open source compliance program. Learn more here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/02/openchain-explained-on-a-forthcoming-flexera-webinar

Events

The OpenChain Project announced a a Birds of a Feather (BoF) at 6pm on Monday the 22nd of October at Open Source Summit Europe. This BoF was designed to provide a “ground level” introduction to what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why you should be part of this. Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/16/openchain-bof-open-source-summit-europe-22nd-october

The OpenChain Project announced a workshop co-located with the Open Source Summit Europe in Edinburgh on the 23rd of October. This provided a deeper dive into OpenChain then the BoF held the previous day. Learn more here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/10/openchain-workshop-open-source-summit-europe-23rd-october

The OpenChain Project was featured at the Software IP event hosted by IAM and located at Golden Gate Club at the Presidio, San Francisco on the 30th of October. The project was represented by Hung Chang, Senior Product Counsel at Workday, and one of the founders of the OpenChain Project. Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/30/openchain-featured-software-ip-an-iam-event

The OpenChain Japan Work Group held its sixth meeting on the 31st of October between 2pm and 4:45pm at Toshiba Smart Community Center in Kanazawa. As with the previous five OpenChain Japan Work Group meetings the discussion included a mix of structured reports, activity planning and case studies. Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/31/openchain-japan-work-group-meeting-6

It was announced that the OpenChain Project will be featured at a forthcoming Bird & Bird event on the 20th of November in Frankfurt, Germany. Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/10/openchain-bird-bird-event-20th-november

Emerging Internal Services

The OpenChain Project previously maintained a document for “manual OpenChain Conformance.” The idea was that companies could download, print and/or the document to suit workflows beyond our online conformance web app. You can find a version of that document here:

Gary O’Neall from our Conformance Work Team has been doing some exciting work to make it quicker and faster to create a manual conformance document. He is automating the creation from inside the conformance web app. Check it out here:

We also announced the public Beta of a new Web App for benchmarking OpenChain Conformance. The idea is to provide a quick, simple and attractive way for companies to check their status regarding meeting the OpenChain standard. This project is being managed by our good friends at Source Code Control. Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/04/new-in-beta-web-app-for-benchmarking-openchain-conformance

We are seeking feedback on the current offering regarding:

  1. Ease of use
  2. If it helps solves friction around conformance
  3. How complementary it is to our Conformance Web App

Emerging External Services

TÜV SÜD Japan have launched an OpenChain Certification Program. This is the first such program and foreshadows a series of announcements over the coming months. The core of the OpenChain Project is our specification (standard) and our simple, free process for self-certification. Commercial activities adjacent to this by TÜV SÜD Japan and other organizations are complementary, providing an avenue for verified/audited certification for entities that want to have this level of assurance. Learn more here:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/02/tuv-sud-japan-announces-openchain-certification-program

Project Collaboration

There is a lot of cross-pollination between Linux Foundation open source projects. The latest is a contribution from Fukuchi-San, a driving force in the OpenChain Japan WG, to SPDX. Motivated by a suggestion from Thomas Steenbergen at Open Source Summit Europe 2017 he has prepared a Japanese translation of the SPDX Specification. The draft document is available for comments, suggestions and improvements here:

Learn more:
https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2018/10/29/openchain-♥-spdx

Summary

This was easily our busiest month yet, with a rocket-ship launch into Q4, and providing a strong foundation for our next steps towards formal standardization in 2019/2020. Of particular note is that we are building out membership, conformance and awareness. This will continue through November and the end of the year. Watch this space!

License and Trademarks

Copyright 2018 The Linux Foundation. This newsletter is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0). Please feel free to share it onwards! OpenChain is a trademark of The Linux Foundation. It may be used according to The Linux Foundation Trademark Policy and the OpenChain Terms of Use. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.