Open source can be described as source code available to the general public. Open source software can be read, modified, and redistributed by anyone. This means that developers can use the original code in their own projects without paying any license fee to the owner of the code. Successful open source projects are often built as a community of developers that collaborates and ensures that the open source projects are moving in the intended direction.
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The Linux kernel and OpenStack are two of the most famous open source projects. The Yocto Project and it's subprojects are other examples of large open source projects, especially within the embedded world.
Open source communities usually consist of at least one maintainer. A maintainer is a person responsible for integrating patches into the project and building the source code. In the integration part, the maintainer often has an important role of either reviewing the patches sent up by developers in the community or making...