# Hosting your project on freedesktop.org

freedesktop.org is a broad church of projects. We do not dictate roadmaps or technical direction, but these are instead decided by our projects day to day. We provide hosting and infrastructure support as well as community oversight.

In return for the freedom and support we provide, we ask that you act responsibly as an open-source community project. Specifically:

 * Respect and uphold our [[Code of Conduct|CodeOfConduct]]
 * Provide source code under a license adhering to the [[Debian Free Software Guidelines|https://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines]]
 * Be open to accepting contributions from the whole community, e.g. not just your co-workers
 * Accept contributions on even terms: asymmetric CLAs which provide you with more rights to a project than the contributors are not OK
 * Be willing to hand over maintainership if a good candidate appears and is willing to prolong the project
 * Not unduly use freedesktop.org's name or claim specific approval from us ('freedesktop.org says this is the best joystick library and you have to use it')

Conversely, if your project is hosted with freedesktop.org, we will:

 * Provide you with source code, web, and mailing list hosting under freedesktop.org
 * Keep you informed of changes or developments in our services
 * Listen and take into account your feedback on the services we provide, and try to meet your needs
 * Support your project in external discussion, e.g. request on your behalf new features or improvements to services we run
 * Help and support you to move your project if you decide that freedesktop.org is no longer the best place for it to live

## How to request a new freedesktop.org software project

Our [[mission statement|MissionStatement]] broadly sums up what we are trying to achieve. You can also look at our existing [[software|Software]] and [[specifications|Specifications]] to help decide if freedesktop.org is the right place for your project.

If the project fits, please [[file an issue on freedesktop/freedesktop|https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freedesktop/freedesktop/issues/new]] and select the 'new project' template.

If you are in doubt or would like to discuss it, please feel free to file an issue regardless, or discuss mail [[the freedesktop@ list|https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/freedesktop]]. You can also ask on IRC in OFTC's #freedesktop, though please note it may take some time to receive an answer, so please don't leave the channel right away.

## How to create a new freedesktop.org specification

To create a new specification, please discuss it either by filing a GitLab issue in the most relevant [[xdg project|https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xdg]], or on the [[xdg@ mailing list|https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/admindb/xdg]].