---
title: some axes for a taxonomy of open source
description: a list
---

- maintenance effort and expectations: professionally maintained / casually maintained / not maintained
- source of priorities: owner-driven / community-driven
- desire for input: PRs welcome / issues welcome / view-only
- license standards: bare minimum / give code back / don't be evil / be specifically good
- how bills get paid: not users' problem / crowdfunding / selling support / we productized the hosting so if you also productize the hosting you're being a dick

for example:

- React is professionally maintained, owner-driven, PRs welcome, bare minimum, not users' problem
- MongoDB is the same but give code back and we productized the hosting
- SQLite is professionally maintained, owner-driven, issues welcome, bare minimum, selling support
- anything that runs on github sponsors or patreon is crowdfunding
- the Hippocratic License or some of the others are don't be evil
- ACSL counts as be specifically good
- anti-licenses are the secret fifth tier of license standards, Good Fucking Luck
- some projects are actually community-driven but I can't think of one off the top of my head
- most of my side projects are not maintained, owner-driven, view-only, Good Fucking Luck, and crowdfunding at the time they were written but currently not your problem.
