😇Tooling Sustainability

This is a working draft. Nothing here should be treated as final until formally approved. Formal OSC approval to follow.

This program is actively being worked on by the tooling working group: https://opensourcecommittee.docs.intersectmbo.org/working-groups/tooling-working-group

Mission: The Tooling Working Group (WG) will serve as the working body that supports the Tooling Sustainability Program, focusing on identifying, funding, and supporting mission-critical open-source tools and libraries that are foundational to the Cardano ecosystem. The WG aims to ensure the long-term sustainability, security, and usability of these tools by providing targeted financial support and structured guidance, enabling both developers and the wider community to build with confidence.

Scope & Objectives:

The Tooling WG will operate under a clear mandate to evaluate, fund, and support essential tooling projects based on community demand, technical merit, and ecosystem impact.

Project Identification & Evaluation:

• Define Key Categories: Focus areas include but are not limited to:

  • dApp Frameworks

  • Voting Tools

  • Education Frameworks

  • Explorers & Monitoring Tools

  • Smart Contract DSLs

  • Wallets & Indexers

  • Community-Suggested Tools (via open submission)

• Community Demand & Adoption:

  • Utilize community feedback loops and data-driven insights (e.g., usage metrics, adoption rates).

  • Integrate Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) and tools like Bitegria for dependency and impact analysis.

• Licensing & Open Source Compliance:

  • Confirm the open-source status of each project, ensuring adherence to permissive and community-compatible licenses (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0).

• Program Overlap & Ecosystem Fit:

  • Review existing funded programs to avoid duplication and promote complementarity within the ecosystem.

• Governance & Contribution Proof:

  • Assess the governance structure of projects, focusing on transparency and community involvement.

  • Require proof of contribution, including commit histories, contributor stats, and community engagement.

• Roadmaps & ROI Evaluation:

  • Mandate comprehensive project roadmaps that outline key milestones, timelines, and measurable outcomes.

  • Evaluate contribution opportunities, sustainability plans, and expected return on investment (ROI) for the ecosystem.

Funding & Support Mechanism:

• Establish a transparent funding process with clear selection criteria and reporting requirements.

• Regularly monitor funded projects to ensure adherence to milestones and evaluate the continued impact.

• Implement accountability measures, including periodic reviews, progress reports, and community check-ins.

Provide non-financial support such as mentorship, technical guidance, and integration opportunities within the Cardano ecosystem.

Proposed Budget:

• 2 Million ADA or ($1 Million USD) allocated to fund a diverse set of open-source tooling projects, prioritized based on ecosystem impact and community needs.

• Budget will cover development costs, maintenance, and sustainability efforts for selected projects, with a focus on long-term viability.

Success Metrics:

• Number of funded projects successfully launched and adopted.

• Measurable improvements in ecosystem tooling coverage and usability.

• Increased community engagement and contributions to funded projects.

• Enhanced security and maintainability of critical open-source libraries.

Proposed Funding Rules for Tooling Sustainability Program:

1. Subsidee Style Stipend- Meant to fund valued tools the ecosystem depends on but has no sustainable source of funds.

2. Overlapping of external funds is a typical no go, can be reviewed case by case basis.

3. Cannot be used for proprietary or non-open source friendly licensed projects.

4. Demonstrated use within the ecosystem, can be verified with data or use cases.

5. Recipients must provide quarterly review progress as determined by the WG.

6. Budget does not need to be exhausted, just applied to have maximum impact.

7. Payments will only be provided in ADA.

8. In the event of multiple projects being selected within one given category, the WG with OSC will evaluate the highest impact projects to support its determined category limit.

9. Selections for funded projects will be supported for 1 year cadence per budgetary cycle, provided quarterly evaluations show the project in good standing.

10. There is no grandfather clause, projects are revaluated every budgetary cycle.

11. Funding should promote better open source citizenship, contribution to the listed project and or any potential downstream dependencies.

12. Being involved in other OSC budget sponsored programs does not inherently mean disqualification for funding within this program, but will need to be evaluated on a case by case basis.

13. All projects are subject to the OSC Governance and Security policy as applicable.

14. All rules listed are subject to change based upon experiences throughout the program upon OSC determination.

15. Conflict of Interest disclosures provided by applicable projects and teams, serving in any capacity on this initiative.