The Linux Foundation’s Antitrust Laws for Open Source Software Project Management and Participation (LFC105) is a free, online, self-paced course for people involved in open-source projects. The Linux Foundation announced it on December 6, 2022, describing an estimated completion time of about one hour. It introduces ways to recognize potential antitrust concerns, stay within legal guardrails, and know when to seek further advice.
What LFC105 covers
Open-source work can bring people from competing businesses together to collaborate. The Linux Foundation’s announcement says that antitrust or competition-law violations can happen inadvertently when participants do not understand the rules. LFC105 is intended to build basic awareness for that setting—not to turn participants into legal specialists.
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The course’s stated learning outcomes are to help learners:
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- Discuss actions that remain within legal guardrails.
- Recognize when a situation calls for further advice.
Who the course is for
LFC105 is aimed at anyone participating in open-source projects. That includes individual contributors and maintainers as well as steering-committee and governing-board members. Its broad audience makes it relevant both to people doing day-to-day project work and to those involved in project oversight.
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Format, access, and time commitment
The Linux Foundation announcement describes LFC105 as free, online, and self-paced, with an estimated completion time of approximately one hour. In its December 6, 2022 announcement, Linux Foundation Training & Certification said: “This online, self-paced course is free and open to everyone on your team. It will take approximately an hour to complete.” The announcement does not establish details such as a completion certificate, organizational reporting, or how often course content is updated.
What the course does—and does not—qualify you to do
LFC105 is introductory legal-awareness training, not legal advice, a professional qualification, or a substitute for counsel on a specific project decision. The announcement sets that expectation directly: “While you won’t come away as a legal expert, you will be prepared to be a legally responsible participant in open source project activities of any type.” Use it to improve awareness and recognize when to escalate a concern, rather than to decide on your own whether a particular practice is lawful.
Who created the course
The Linux Foundation identifies attorney Andrew Updegrove as the author. Its 2022 announcement describes him as a co-founder and partner of Gesmer Updegrove LLP and outside legal counsel to the Linux Foundation. It says he has worked with more than 200 open-source foundations and standards consortia since 1988, testified before the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and congressional and state committees on open-collaboration matters, and filed pro bono friend-of-the-court briefs in significant standards litigation.
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When an open-source project should seek legal advice
The course’s stated goal includes helping participants understand when to ask for further advice. In practice, if a discussion or proposed project action raises a possible competition-law concern, do not treat an introductory course as a ruling on the situation: pause the decision and ask the appropriate project or organizational legal counsel. The course is intended to support responsible participation, not replace case-specific legal guidance.
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