Welcome to the OSPO Explainer Video Library, a collection of bite-sized tutorial videos tackling a variety of open source essentials. New topics added monthly – drop us a line if there’s a topic you’re interested in that’s not on our list yet.
Coming Soon: Citing Research Software, Digital Object Identifiers, and Open Source Governance!
Let’s talk about the definition of the term open source and the reasons why you may choose to use or contribute to open-source software. We also point to free resources for deeper learning.
In this video, you’ll learn what open-source software is and why licenses are important. The video explores the two main types of licenses (copyleft and permissive) and how to choose the right one for your project. It also clarifies the difference between open-source and source-available licenses and concludes with tips on how to properly license your code.
This video shows you how to write a great README for your open source repository. A README serves as an introduction to your code, providing users with important information on installment how to get started. The Explainer outlines what information to include in your README, including how to identify your project, how to help users evaluate it, and how to help users use and engage with it. The Explainer also includes tips for managing READMEs for projects with multiple repositories and keeping your README up-to-date.