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Bug reports and feature requests: This type of contribution typically does not comprise source code, but instead is feedback to the project regarding incorrect behavior of the software, e.g., a bug report, or a request and value argumentation for a new feature. As those reports or requests typically do not comprise code (apart from potentially fractions of pseudocode), contributors fully rely on members of the development community to pick up these requests for implementation.
Bug fixes and corrections: Bug fixes are corrections of unintended and/or incorrect behavior of a software, in particular including vulnerabilities, often in response to bug reports. Bug fixes implement changes and/or additions to a code base within the scope of existing functionality. Therefore, bug fixes modify existing code, but can also add new code for handling previously unhandled scenarios or corner cases in the existing logic. Outside of such additions, bug fixes do not add new functionality to a codebase. Bug fixes are typically small in terms of the number of changed lines of code.
Supporting contributions: Supporting contributions are improvements of an open source project outside of the core functional scope of a project, but instead they are supportive in nature, aiming to improve a project’s maturity and adoption. Such contributions comprise for example:
- improvements of a project’s documentation,
- its build system,
- test cases and frameworks,
- release management,
- code reviews, and
- presentations
Individual features: Individual contributions address gaps in the functionality of an open source software component used in a product. This may comprise functionality for supporting industry-specific use cases, or improvements of the software to meet specific robustness and performance requirements. Therefore, the key value of closing a functional gap in an open source component is the enablement of higher-level value in the form of a better functioning product.
Strategic industry leading engagements: Strategic engagements aim to drive the evolution of open source technology of strategic relevance to a company and to establish an organization in an industry leading position in key open source projects. Strategic engagements often comprise appointing a development team to continuously make the above-mentioned types of contributions (from bug fixes to individual features) with the intention that team members take on Owner/Maintainer/Committer roles in the project over time. Strategic engagements comprise both, i) projects which are hosted by open source foundations (e.g., Linux Foundation), and ii) projects created, hosted and governed by a company.