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+# Choosing an open source component
+
+Date: 2018-01-09
+
+## Status
+
+Proposed.
+
+## Context 
+
+Using poor quality or unmaintained third-party software can be at the least inconvenient, and at the most downright dangerous: for example, it can fail to take advantage of the benefits from the latest technology, and security holes can go unpatched.
+
+Using third-party software that is difficult to maintain integrated in our environment can make updating it difficult, time-consuming or risky.
+
+Using software with an inappropriate license may present a legal risk, or may risk others choosing not to use our software because of the burden the license subsequently places on them.  
+
+We want to minimise exposure to these risks when choosing an open source component to use in the eLife code base.   
+            
+## Decision
+When choosing an open source component, care should be taken to try to choose something that is:
+
+- licensed appropriately
+- reliable
+- well maintained
+- not complex to maintain in our environment
+
+### Must have
+ - compatible license
+ 
+### Nice to have
+ - issue tracker
+ - many maintainers
+ - community enthusiasm
+ - documentation
+ - low complexity to maintain in our environment
+ 
+## Warning signs
+ - many open issues
+ - customised license
+ - few commits
+ - exotic code
+ - delays in 3rd party PRs getting merged or rejected for no obvious reason
+
+During the inclusion of a library in a pull request, complete the following list and let the maintainers of the project make an informed choice.
+
+- [] license type:
+- [] is the license customised?
+- [] the there an issue tracker?
+- [] open issue count:
+- [] commit count:
+- [] maintainer count:
+- anticipated effort to maintain in our environment:
+    - [] low
+    - [] medium
+    - [] high                       
+- [] any exotic code (provide details):
+
+## Consequences
+
+Selection of all future open source components should go through this evaluation process.
+
+This will help maintain the quality of eLife software, facilitate its reuse, and require less maintenance replacing unmaintained components so increasing the work not done.
+