OpenHands/COMMUNITY.md
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# The OpenHands Community
OpenHands is a community of engineers, academics, and enthusiasts reimagining software development for an AI-powered world.
## Mission
Its very clear that AI is changing software development. We want the developer community to drive that change organically, through open source.
So were not just building friendly interfaces for AI-driven development. Were publishing _building blocks_ that empower developers to create new experiences, tailored to your own habits, needs, and imagination.
## Ethos
We have two core values: **high openness** and **high agency**. While we dont expect everyone in the community to embody these values, we want to establish them as norms.
### High Openness
We welcome anyone and everyone into our community by default. You dont have to be a software developer to help us build. You dont have to be pro-AI to help us learn.
Our plans, our work, our successes, and our failures are all public record. We want the world to see not just the fruits of our work, but the whole process of growing it.
We welcome thoughtful criticism, whether its a comment on a PR or feedback on the community as a whole.
### High Agency
Everyone should feel empowered to contribute to OpenHands. Whether its by making a PR, hosting an event, sharing feedback, or just asking a question, dont hold back!
OpenHands gives everyone the building blocks to create state-of-the-art developer experiences. We experiment constantly and love building new things.
Coding, development practices, and communities are changing rapidly. We wont hesitate to change direction and make big bets.
## Relationship to All Hands
OpenHands is supported by the for-profit organization [All Hands AI, Inc](https://www.all-hands.dev/).
All Hands was founded by three of the first major contributors to OpenHands:
- Xingyao Wang, a UIUC PhD candidate who got OpenHands to the top of the SWE-bench leaderboards
- Graham Neubig, a CMU Professor who rallied the academic community around OpenHands
- Robert Brennan, a software engineer who architected the user-facing features of OpenHands
All Hands is an important part of the OpenHands ecosystem. Weve raised over $20M--mainly to hire developers and researchers who can work on OpenHands full-time, and to provide them with expensive infrastructure. ([Join us!](https://allhandsai.applytojob.com/apply/))
But we see OpenHands as much larger, and ultimately more important, than All Hands. When our financial responsibility to investors is at odds with our social responsibility to the community—as it inevitably will be, from time to time—we promise to navigate that conflict thoughtfully and transparently.
At some point, we may transfer custody of OpenHands to an open source foundation. But for now, the [Benevolent Dictator approach](http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/homesteading/ar01s16.html) helps us move forward with speed and intention. If we ever forget the “benevolent” part, please: fork us.