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Blog | Education & Training

Open Source Education & Training: New Program Offers Best Practices for Managers and Technical Staff

By | February 10, 2021

Written by Dan Brown, Senior Manager, Content & Social Media, LF Training

Is your organization considering setting up an open source program office (OSPO) but you aren’t sure where to start? Or do you already have an OSPO but want to learn best practices to make it more effective? Linux Foundation Training & Certification has released a new series of seven training courses designed to help.

The Open Source Management & Strategy program is designed to help executives, managers, software developers and engineers understand and articulate the basic concepts for building effective open source practices within their organization. Developed by Guy Martin, Executive Director of OASIS Open, an internationally recognized standards development and open source projects consortium, the series of online courses provides the foundational knowledge and skills to build out an effective OSPO.

The courses in the program are designed to be modular, so participants only need to take those of relevance to them. This enables organizations to let each member of the team train in the skills they need to be successful in their given roles. The courses included in the program are:

  • LFC202 – Open Source Introduction – covers the basic components of open source and open standards
  • LFC203 – Open Source Business Strategy – discusses the various open source business models and how to develop practical strategies and policies for each
  • LFC204 – Effective Open Source Program Management – explains how to build an effective OSPO and the different types of roles and responsibilities needed to run it successfully
  • LFC205 – Open Source Development Practices – talks about the role of continuous integration and testing in a healthy open source project
  • LFC206 – Open Source Compliance Programs – covers the importance of effective open source license compliance and how to build programs and processes to ensure safe and effective consumption of open source
  • LFC207 – Collaborating Effectively with Open Source Projects – discusses how to work effectively with upstream open source projects and how to get the maximum benefit from working with project communities
  • LFC208 – Creating Open Source Projects – explains the rationale and value for creating new open source projects as well as the required legal, business and development processes needed to launch new projects

“Open Source has quickly become the foundation for all businesses both large and small,” said John Mertic, Director of Program Management at The Linux Foundation. “As these companies  encourage their employees to contribute to the open source community or participate in various projects, the new Linux Foundation training program will provide support and guidance to help every level – from managers to developers – successfully navigate their open source journey.”

The Open Source Management & Strategy program is available to begin immediately. The $499 enrollment fee provides unlimited access to all seven courses for one year, as well as a certificate upon completion. Interested individuals may enroll here. The program is also included in all corporate training subscriptions.