We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Lilypad’s open source initiative, a significant step toward building a more collaborative, innovative, and inclusive tech ecosystem within the Lilypad Network community.

This initiative marks our commitment to open source principles, and we’re inviting everyone, from seasoned developers to those just starting their coding journey, to contribute, learn, and grow with us.

Why Open Source?

At Lilypad, we believe that collaboration is the cornerstone of any meaningful innovation. True progress is made when people come together, share their knowledge, and build on each other's ideas.

By open-sourcing some of our repositories, we’re creating space for collaborative efforts that will shape the future of AI and blockchain technology together. This initiative is about more than just code. It’s about creating a community where every contribution, no matter the size, plays a crucial role in driving our collective vision forward. Your input and creativity are essential, and we genuinely appreciate every effort to enhance, refine, and expand the capabilities of the Lilypad Network.

Let's collaborate to shape the future of technology, where every contribution plays an important role!

How You Can Contribute

Getting involved with Lilypad's open source initiative is straightforward. Whether you’re reporting a bug, submitting a feature request, or making code changes, this guide will walk you through the entire process.

As the Lilypad Network is an open-source project, we encourage the community to contribute to our GitHub repositories.

• Lilypad - This is the core repo of the Lilypad Network, containing the code that powers Lilypad’s AI and compute platform.

• awesome-lilypad - A curated list of resources, tools, tutorials, and examples related to the Lilypad Network.

• WindowsResourceProvider app - This repo contains the Windows Resource Provider app (beta), a tool designed to enable Windows users to run a node and contribute computational resources to the Lilypad Network.

• Lilypad documentation - This repo contains all the essential guides, best practices, and reference materials needed to work with the Lilypad Network. It's the primary resource for developers, resource providers, and users to navigate and contribute to the Lilypad ecosystem.

• Lilypad tools - A collection of tools and utilities to assist with various Lilypad-related tasks. Currently, it includes a Proxmox setup guide for managing virtualization and a script to update Lilypad. New tooling suggestions are appreciated!

Here are some of the ways you can contribute:

• Reporting bugs: If you encounter any issues, you can report them in our Discord #i-need-help channel or by opening an issue on GitHub in the appropriate repository. Be sure to use the provided templates to give us as much detail as possible. If we can’t reproduce the bug, we may reach out for more information.

• Triaging issues: Join the conversation by helping to discuss and clarify issues reported by others. Your insights can help us better understand and address the issues.

• Submitting pull requests: Whether it’s fixing a bug, implementing a new feature, or updating documentation, pull requests are the primary way to make contributions. We encourage you to check out our issue list, claim an issue, and start coding!

• Providing feedback: Your feedback is crucial to the success of our open-source initiative. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve the contributor experience and make Lilypad a better platform for everyone involved. We’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to share your feedback with us in our #open-source Discord channel or by opening an issue in the appropriate repository. We appreciate your input as we continue to build and refine the Lilypad Network together!

Not all of the Lilypad repositories that we're open sourcing include all of the following files, but these files will help give you context on how to contribute while following best practices:

• CONTRIBUTING.md: This file provides guidelines on how to contribute to the project, including the process for submitting pull requests, coding standards, and tips for collaboration.

• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md: Outlines the expected behavior for all contributors, ensuring a welcoming and inclusive environment. It also specifies what actions will be taken in the event of misconduct.

• SECURITY.md: Contains information about how to report security vulnerabilities. It ensures that any security concerns are handled in a responsible and timely manner.

• LICENSE: Describes the terms under which the project's code can be used, modified, and distributed. It defines the legal boundaries for usage and contributions.

• LOCAL_DEVELOPMENT.md: Offers setup instructions and tips for running the project locally, making it easier for developers to get started with the codebase.

Pull Requests and Commits

We’ve established some best practices to make sure that contributions are streamlined and maintain high quality:

• Commit Conventions: We require conventional commits, such as fix, feat, docs, etc., to help us assess the impact of changes. Each commit should be signed to prove authenticity, and you can find detailed instructions in our guide on setting up signed commits.

• Review Process: We welcome and encourage PR reviews from the community. Feedback should always be constructive, focusing on improving the contribution to help it move forward. If you see a PR that hasn’t seen any activity for a while, feel free to check in with the original contributor before taking over the work.

• Squash and Merge: We use a squash and merge strategy when integrating pull requests, which allows us to combine multiple commits into a single commit while preserving the history of the pull request on GitHub.

Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

To contribute code to Lilypad, you’ll need to sign a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). This agreement ensures that your contributions can be used within the Lilypad project and by its users. To sign the CLA, simply follow the steps in our guide, and you’ll be added as an official contributor once your pull request is reviewed and approved!

Rewards and Recognition

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be rolling out a rewards program in the coming weeks! Contributions to community-tagged issues are eligible for rewards, so keep an eye out for those tags.

We welcome all contributions. Whether you’re fixing bugs, adding features, or improving documentation, your contributions will be recognized and appreciated.

Code of Conduct

We expect all contributors to abide by our Code of Conduct, which promotes a positive and welcoming environment. Violations can be reported directly to the Lilypad team at contact@lilypad.tech. Remember, the goal is to work together, support each other to make Lilypad the best it can be.

Join Us on Discord

For any questions, discussions, or to showcase your contributions, join our #open-source channel on Discord. It’s the perfect place to connect with other contributors, get help, and stay updated on all things Lilypad.

Let’s Build the Future Together

This open source initiative is just the beginning. We’re excited to see the creativity, innovation and passion that our community will bring to the table. So, jump into our repositories, start contributing and join us in building something truly remarkable.

Thank you for being a part of the Lilypad community!