Work in the open with GitHub
Discover what it means to work in the open, and how your team can contribute to open-source development on GitHub.
On this page
- GitHub and open-source projects
- Community-based support
- Open and transparent development
- Organizations in GitHub owned by B.C. government
- Related pages
GitHub and open-source projects
The Digital Principles for the Government of B.C. encourage us to work in the open. GitHub is the leading platform for open-source projects and allows the Province to collaborate with the open-source community. Using GitHub, we can build software, support innovation and save time and money.
As a product team on the BC Gov Private Cloud PaaS, you’ll use GitHub to build your application. On GitHub you can host your code, work with your team and collaborate with other product teams and the broader open-source community.
GitHub gives you the unique opportunity to build your application in an open and transparent environment. Open-source coding facilitates the use and improvement of shared code and components. It also lets teams support one another to efficiently develop and deliver digital services across teams, departments and ministries.
Learn more about building your application in open source.
Community-based support
We follow a community-based support model, and that extends to the open-source community. When your developers have time, we encourage them to engage with other product teams and applications, to share knowledge, skills and expertise. For example, they can:
- Help patch issues that have been identified in another team’s application
- Review code or components that have been suggested by other platform users
- Make suggestions on how a tool or feature could be improved
- Share their knowledge and expertise by answering questions from other developers in Rocket.Chat
- Present the work they’ve been doing on the platform at a Platform Community Meetup
These are only some of the ways your team can contribute to the open-source community on GitHub. An easy way to get started is to check Rocket.Chat, where other product teams post questions and issues they need help with. Answer them or provide input whenever you can.
You can also post your own issues and questions when you’re having trouble on the platform, to get help from the open-source community.
Open and transparent development
Open-source development also involves building your application to follow open-source development best practices. Make sure your work is clear and well documented.
As you build and improve your application, keep it well organized and labeled. Thorough documentation in your application helps other teams benefit from your work. It can also help other developers understand your code if they’re trying to help you resolve an issue with your application.
Other teams are also maintaining their application to follow best practices, and you’ll be able to benefit from their well-documented work as well.
Make sure you understand the requirements associated with licensing intellectual property in GitHub.
Organizations in GitHub owned by B.C. government
There are different organizations that B.C. government owns in GitHub. Find an organization that is right for your code.
