Implementing an open source strategy

But with all the benefits of embracing open source, there also are some risks you must address. You must be careful and be license-compliant when you use open source software in your products and toolchains. You must also take on the liability yourself if the open source component causes damage as you don't have a vendor you can sue. Also, there are risks involved if you take on too many dependencies – direct or indirect – and one of them breaks.

Note

In Chapter 14, Securing Your Code, you'll learn how 11 lines of code in a package and a conflict about a name caused severe damage and took off big parts of the internet.

That's why your company should set up an open source strategy. This strategy should define what types of open source software developers can use for what purpose. There might be different rules for different purposes. If you want to include open source in your products, you will need some kind...