DLR's Inner Source Policy

The aim of the DLR's Inner Source Policy is to encourage institutes to share their software across DLR institutes. This helps to avoid duplication of development work, supports knowledge transfer, and improves exchange between institutes. A lot of software is developed at DLR institutes that is not always intended for publication, for example to retain IP within the DLR. Publication is also not advisable for software that addresses issues specific to DLR. However, internal release also requires regulations to take into account the respective interests of the institutes. DLR's Inner Source Policy regulates the use, collaboration and distribution of software within DLR. It consists of three parts: The Inner Source Code of Conduct regulates the DLR-wide handling of Inner Source. The User Agreement sets out rules for the respective software project according to which it can be used at DLR. The Contribution Guide regulates the conditions under which contributions can be made to the software on a project-specific basis. In this presentation, we will introduce these three parts and explain how we arrived at the current design and what our further plans are for establishing the policy at DLR.