Open-Zaak and the Standard for Public Code

Code in the Open

  • [x] Open Zaak development happens in the open on Github

Requirement meets links and notes
All source code for any policy and software in use (unless used for fraud detection) MUST be published and publicly accessible. yes code, VNG/GEMMA2 policy linked in README
Contributors MUST NOT upload sensitive information regarding users, their organization or third parties to the repository. yes 2020-05-12 review by @EricHerman; ISO 27001
Any source code not currently in use (such as new versions, proposals or older versions) SHOULD be published. yes releases, docker hub tags
The source code MAY provide the general public with insight into which source code or policy underpins any specific interaction they have with an organization.

Bundle policy and source code

  • [x] Policy bundled, tested, and linked in the documentation, some policy not available in English

Requirement meets links and notes
A codebase MUST include the policy that the source code is based on. yes API specs embeded in the codebase, and linked from documentation
A codebase MUST include all source code that the policy is based on. "yes" or "not applicable", do we consider it based on the API?
All policy and source code that the codebase is based on MUST be documented, reusable and portable. yes code dependencies are OSI
Policy SHOULD be provided in machine readable and unambiguous formats. yes OpenAPI is in machine readable yaml format
Continuous integration tests SHOULD validate that the source code and the policy are executed coherently. yes GitHub workflow, API Test Platform

Create reusable and portable code

  • [x] designed to be reusable from the start

Requirement meets links and notes
The codebase MUST be developed to be reusable in different contexts. yes Designed to be so from the start.
The codebase MUST be independent from any secret, undisclosed, proprietary or non-open licensed code or services for execution and understanding. yes installation supports docker, kubernetes, vmware appliances, bare-metal is possible
The codebase SHOULD be in use by multiple parties. yes Deployed in multiple sandbox environments (e.g: Utrecht is testing it, others Den Haag, Delft looking at it.)
The roadmap SHOULD be influenced by the needs of multiple parties. yes Dimpact, market consultation
Configuration SHOULD be used to make code adapt to context specific needs.
The codebase SHOULD include a machine readable metadata description, for example in a publiccode.yml file. yes publiccode.yml
Code and its documentation SHOULD NOT contain situation-specific information. yes Some GCloud examples but nothing required; no credentials and documentation suggests using secret generators

Welcome contributors

  • [ ] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
The codebase MUST allow anyone to submit suggestions for changes to the codebase. yes requests
The codebase MUST include contribution guidelines explaining what kinds of contributions are welcome and how contributors can get involved, for example in a CONTRIBUTING file. yes CONTRIBUTING, Documentation
The codebase SHOULD advertise the committed engagement of involved organizations in the development and maintenance. yes Readme
The codebase SHOULD document the governance of the codebase, contributions and its community, for example in a GOVERNANCE file. no draft GOVERNANCE file
The codebase SHOULD have a publicly available roadmap. no Issues are not yet collected into a roadmap view; tech-debt and tech-wishlist not yet collected into a technical roadmap
The codebase MAY include a code of conduct for contributors. no no email address in the Code of conduct to report incidents

Make contributing easy

  • [x] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
The codebase MUST have a public issue tracker that accepts suggestions from anyone. yes issues
The codebase MUST include instructions for how to privately report security issues for responsible disclosure. yes Reporting security issues
The documentation MUST link to both the public issue tracker and submitted codebase changes, for example in a README file. yes Documentation, CONTRIBUTING.md
The codebase MUST have communication channels for users and developers, for example email lists. yes Mailing list, github issues, VNG slack channel (requires an invite)
The documentation SHOULD include instructions for how to report potentially security sensitive issues on a closed channel. yes SECURITY.rst

Maintain version control

  • [x] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
The community MUST have a way to maintain version control for the code. yes GitHub
All files in a codebase MUST be version controlled. yes git
All decisions MUST be documented in commit messages. yes Commit messages are sufficiently detailed or contain links to detail; the repo has a policy and a pull_request_template.md which encourages referencing an issue and describing the changes @ericherman 2022-0321
Every commit message MUST link to discussions and issues wherever possible. yes for non-trivial commits
The codebase SHOULD be maintained in a distributed version control system. yes git
Contributors SHOULD group relevant changes in commits. yes PRs
Maintainers SHOULD mark released versions of the codebase, for example using revision tags or textual labels. yes releases
Contributors SHOULD prefer file formats where the changes within the files can be easily viewed and understood in the version control system. yes mostly code and Restructured Text or Markdown
Contributors MAY sign their commits and provide an email address, so that future contributors are able to contact past contributors with questions about their work. yes Commits have email addresses, release tags GPG signed

Require review of contributions

  • [x] Practices are good, would like to see explicit docs

Requirement meets links and notes
All contributions that are accepted or committed to release versions of the codebase MUST be reviewed by another contributor. yes PRs
Reviews MUST include source, policy, tests and documentation. yes repo is configured, tests span, practices right, yet documentation could be more explicit on this point
Reviewers MUST provide feedback on all decisions to not accept a contribution. yes documentations/contrib guidelines could copy-paste from the employement handbook, PRs
Contributions SHOULD conform to the standards, architecture and decisions set out in the codebase in order to pass review. yes PRs, django best practices
Reviews SHOULD include running both the code and the tests of the codebase. yes CI and manual validation required, not clearly documented yet (in handbook)
Contributions SHOULD be reviewed by someone in a different context than the contributor. (some) not applicable yet
Version control systems SHOULD NOT accept non-reviewed contributions in release versions. yes master branch protected, release process
Reviews SHOULD happen within two business days. yes no official policy, is the practice
Reviews MAY be performed by multiple reviewers. mostly

Document codebase objectives

  • [x] Objectives are clear in the introduction documenation

Requirement meets links and notes
The codebase MUST contain documentation of its objectives – like a mission and goal statement – that is understandable by developers and designers so that they can use or contribute to the codebase. yes "Open Zaak is based on the API reference implementations by VNG Realisatie to create a production-grade product that can be used by municipalities." introduction
Codebase documentation SHOULD clearly describe the connections between policy objectives and codebase objectives. yes
The codebase MAY contain documentation of its objectives for the general public. could elaborate for general public: Common Ground, data security, GDPR requests and such

Document the code

  • [x] documentation is good across the board, “recipies” would be nice

Requirement meets links and notes
All of the functionality of the codebase – policy as well as source – MUST be described in language clearly understandable for those that understand the purpose of the code. yes additional docs are generated from code comments
The documentation of the codebase MUST contain: a description of how to install and run the source code, examples demonstrating the key functionality. yes getting started, post-install checklist, improvement: add demo fixtures/instructions
The documentation of the codebase SHOULD contain: a high level description that is clearly understandable for a wide audience of stakeholders, like the general public and journalists, a section describing how to install and run a standalone version of the source code, including, if necessary, a test dataset, examples for all functionality. documentation, would like to see standard recipies and examples of more fuctionality
There SHOULD be continuous integration tests for the quality of the documentation. yes link checks, build checks, Travis config
The documentation of the codebase MAY contain examples that make users want to immediately start using the codebase.
The code MAY be tested by using examples in the documentation.

Use plain English

  • [ ] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
All codebase documentation MUST be in English. manual in Dutch
All code MUST be in English, except where policy is machine interpreted as code.
All bundled policy not available in English MUST have an accompanying summary in English.
Any translation MUST be up to date with the English version and vice versa. TODO: add translations of user-facing texts (NL -> EN) (makemessages)
There SHOULD be no acronyms, abbreviations, puns or legal/non-English/domain specific terms in the codebase without an explanation preceding it or a link to an explanation. Domain specific Dutch terms could be in a glossary which is also translated in English.
The name of the codebase SHOULD be descriptive and free from acronyms, abbreviations, puns or organizational branding. yes
Documentation SHOULD aim for a lower secondary education reading level, as recommended by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2. Would be good to get an evaluation of this prior to investing in translation.
Any code, documentation or tests MAY have a translation.

Use open standards

  • [x] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
For features of a codebase that facilitate the exchange of data the codebase MUST use an open standard that meets the Open Source Initiative Open Standard Requirements. yes The Zaakgericht Werken in het Gemeentelijk Gegevenslandschap meets the 5 criteria of the Open Standards Requirement for Software
If no existing open standard is available, effort SHOULD be put into developing one. n/a
Standards that are machine testable SHOULD be preferred over those that are not. yes see test suite
Functionality using features from a non-open standard (one that doesn’t meet the Open Source Initiative Open Standard Requirements) MAY be provided if necessary, but only in addition to compliant features.
All non-compliant standards used MUST be recorded clearly in the documentation. n/a
The codebase SHOULD contain a list of all the standards used with links to where they are available. yes

Use continuous integration

  • [ ] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
All functionality in the source code MUST have automated tests. 96% codecoverage, small amount of admin UI code not tested
Contributions MUST pass all automated tests before they are admitted into the codebase. yes github checks
Contributions MUST be small. refer to contributing guidelines (single issue, single PR solves single issue)
The codebase MUST have active contributors. yes pulse
Source code test and documentation coverage SHOULD be monitored. yes
Policy and documentation MAY have testing for consistency with the source and vice versa. yes
Policy and documentation MAY have testing for style and broken links. yes docs tests, flake8/isort/black

Publish with an open license

  • [x] Remove confusion in the documentation footer

Requirement meets links and notes
All code and documentation MUST be licensed such that it may be freely reusable, changeable and redistributable. yes copyright marks in the footer? -> check if we can add license to footer (sphinx conf), but explicit open license
Software source code MUST be licensed under an OSI-approved open source license. yes LICENSE
All code MUST be published with a license file. yes LICENSE
Contributors MUST NOT be required to transfer copyright of their contributions to the codebase. yes
All source code files in the codebase SHOULD include a copyright notice and a license header that are machine readable. yes 2020-08-03 review by @ericherman
Codebases MAY have multiple licenses for different types of code and documentation. N/A

Use a coherent style

  • [x] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
Contributions MUST adhere to either a coding or writing style guide, either the codebase community’s own or an existing one that is advertised in or part of the codebase. yes Style guides
Contributions SHOULD pass automated tests on style. yes
The codebase SHOULD include inline comments and documentation for non-trivial sections. yes add to contributing guidelines
The style guide MAY include sections on understandable English.

Document codebase maturity

  • [x] compliant with this criterion.

Requirement meets links and notes
A codebase MUST be versioned. yes version list
A codebase that is ready to use MUST only depend on other codebases that are also ready to use. yes Open source dependencies
A codebase that is not yet ready to use MUST have one of these labels: prototype - to test the look and feel, and to internally prove the concept of the technical possibilities, alpha - to do guided tests with a limited set of users, beta - to open up testing to a larger section of the general public, for example to test if the codebase works at scale, pre-release version - code that is ready to be released but hasn’t received formal approval yet. N/A Is ready
A codebase SHOULD contain a log of changes from version to version, for example in the CHANGELOG. yes changelog