

Show HN: A community-curated list of open companies - waldir
https://github.com/waldyrious/awesome-open-company

======
waldir
I've been collecting info about this kind of companies for quite a while, and
warmly welcomed the creation of the Open Company Initiative
([http://opencompany.org](http://opencompany.org)) in 2013 -- co-founded,
among others, by Chad Whitacre from Gittip/Gratipay, who holds a pretty strong
stance regarding organizational transparency.

Unfortunately, the model they've chosen for building up the directory is based
on a specific pledge taken by the companies themselves, which makes community
participation in expanding the list pretty much impossible
([https://github.com/opencompany/www.opencompany.org/issues/10...](https://github.com/opencompany/www.opencompany.org/issues/103))

So I decided to follow the example of the many awesome-x lists that have been
sprouting up lately, and start a community-curated one for open companies,
too. The list is by no means complete, so feel free to contribute your
knowledge of open companies or other related resources that you think should
be there.

------
zubairq
What is the definition of an Open Company?

~~~
waldir
That's addressed in the first section in the document:
[https://github.com/waldyrious/awesome-open-company#what-
is-a...](https://github.com/waldyrious/awesome-open-company#what-is-an-open-
company)

In short, there isn't a standard, universally agreed definition, but there's a
common pattern in:

\- the definition I used ("a for-profit organization whose core practices are
guided by principles of openness, transparency and interoperability. This
philosophy can be summarized by the maxim: Share as much as possible, charge
as little as possible.")

\- the Open Company Initiative
([http://opencompany.org](http://opencompany.org)) definition: "Companies
committed to openness as a defining element in how [they] create value."

\- the Wikipedia definition
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_business](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_business)):
"an approach to enterprise that draws on ideas from openness movements like
free software, open source, open content and open tools and standards. The
approach places value on transparency, stakeholder inclusion, and
accountability."

\- the P2P Foundation definition
([http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Business](http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Business)):
"a business that operates around the principles that are similar to those of
the free software and open source movements, i.e. with 'free' and 'open'
content."

Let me know if my synthesis (the first definition above) seems innacurate or
incomplete.

