Open Source Manifesto
ownCloud & Kiteworks: Open Source Collaboration Manifesto Unveiled.
Discover the ownCloud open source manifesto under Kiteworks stewardship. Learn about our commitment to transparency, collaboration, and digital sovereignty
Introduction
From its inception, ownCloud has believed in the transformative power of openness. Born in the heart of Europe, ownCloud was founded to provide individuals, teams, and institutions with full control over their data without compromising usability, scalability, or performance. As cloud services became ubiquitous — and concerns about vendor lock-in, surveillance, and digital dependence grew — ownCloud chose a different path: one of transparency, collaboration, and freedom.
Today, ownCloud is part of Kiteworks, an organization that shares this vision and amplifies it through its global reach and resources. Kiteworks recognizes that open source is not just about software — it is about trust, accountability, and contributing to the greater good. By combining Kiteworks’ leadership in secure data exchange with ownCloud’s foundation in open collaboration, we bring together enterprise capability with a deep commitment to open source.
This manifesto outlines our commitments, philosophy, and aspirations as stewards of ownCloud and the broader open source ecosystem in which we operate. It serves as a declaration to our community, partners, customers, and team members.
Our detailed Vision and Mission statement, published separately, describes the future we are building toward. This manifesto describes how we intend to get there.
Our Values
Kiteworks’ stewardship of ownCloud is guided by a clear set of values:
- Transparency: We build in the open, document openly, and welcome scrutiny.
- Trust: Transparency and integrity are non-negotiable. Trust is earned line by line.
- Collaboration: Progress is only meaningful when shared.
- Responsibility: We build technology that empowers people and institutions to collaborate on their own terms.
- Sustainability: Long-term ecosystem health matters more than short-term gains.
These values define not only how ownCloud develops technology, but also how we engage with people, partners, and institutions.
Our Commitments
Open by Default
ownCloud maintains a public-first development model. All primary components of ownCloud are released under open source licenses, with public repositories, issue trackers, and roadmaps. ownCloud remains free for anyone to use, modify, host, and extend.
Federated by Architecture
ownCloud is built for cross-organizational collaboration. We maintain and advocate for open standards such as Open Cloud Mesh (OCM), WebDAV, and OpenID Connect to enable seamless federation across deployments. We are committed to interoperability with other open platforms and vendors that respect open standards.
Championing Open Standards
We do not reinvent protocols for the sake of differentiation. We build on the shoulders of giants. Whether it is authentication, file transfer, or identity federation, we prefer open, widely adopted protocols. In standards bodies and working groups, we actively participate in improving and extending the protocols that matter to our users.
Responsible Commercial Stewardship
We believe open source and commercial viability can reinforce each other — not as a contradiction, but as a social contract sustained through commercial investment.
Kiteworks generates revenue through its compliance, policy, and integration offerings, through premium support, and through enterprise capabilities that enhance but do not limit the open source platform. Core file sync, share, and content collaboration functionality is and will remain open source.
Stewardship
Kiteworks, as the steward of ownCloud, takes this role seriously. Stewardship means investing in the future of ownCloud: dedicating product management, community engagement, engineering, and governance resources, and ensuring that contributions are properly reviewed and integrated. Our commitment is to safeguard and empower the open source project, in partnership with our community, institutions, and customers.
Clear Boundaries
We commit to clarity on what is and will remain open source. Boundaries are necessary to ensure sustainability and growth. They enable Kiteworks to reinvest in open source technology while providing a high-quality product for the community.
What remains open source:
- The ownCloud source code and all core platform functionality.
- Federation capabilities and open standard implementations (OCM, WebDAV, OIDC).
- Public APIs, SDKs, and extension points.
- Project governance, contribution processes, and community infrastructure.
What sits in the enterprise layer (Kiteworks Private Data Network):
- Advanced compliance, policy enforcement, and audit tooling.
- Extended analytics and enterprise-scale deployment support.
- Premium support SLAs and dedicated customer engineering.
By defining these boundaries openly and maintaining them consistently, we reinforce trust and avoid ambiguity.
Long-Term Sustainability
We allocate dedicated resources to the maintenance, documentation, and evolution of our open source projects. We believe maintainership is a responsibility, not a side effect. Through regular releases, security advisories, lifecycle commitments, and architectural reviews, we ensure that ownCloud remains production-grade and future-ready.
The Kiteworks Responsibility
Kiteworks integrates open source components across its platform. As the steward of ownCloud, Kiteworks embraces open source not only as a technical strategy but as part of its broader commitment to social responsibility: ensuring that the digital tools we build serve the public good, respect privacy, and strengthen trust in digital collaboration.
Conclusion
Open source is in ownCloud’s DNA, and through ownCloud it has become part of Kiteworks’ DNA. We see it as a generational opportunity to rebuild digital infrastructure in a way that is fair, accessible, and sovereign.
With Kiteworks as the steward of ownCloud, we combine the strength of a global secure data exchange leader with the openness of a European-born platform. Together, we reaffirm our belief that technology must serve the greater good: empowering innovation, fostering collaboration, and protecting digital sovereignty.
ownCloud, as a Kiteworks company, remains committed to open development, federated collaboration, and sustainable innovation. Whether you are a student, system administrator, CTO, or contributor, we invite you to join us in shaping the future of open collaboration.
Foreword
Tim Freestone’s executive pledge that buying ownCloud was buying into an idea, not just software.
Lessons Learned
A candid confession about the ownCloud forks, and what unheard voices cost a project.
Open source Manifesto
Twelve documents. Every commitment, every boundary, every uncomfortable truth. Read them and hold us to it.
Vision & Mission
The north star: ownCloud as the digital sovereignty backbone, open source as a social contract.