What is the most important thing to choose an open source project?

What are the most important things that developers consider when deciding whether to use an open-source project? Code quality? Security? Good documentation?

All of the above factors are important, but according to a joint survey by Tidelift and The New Stack, open-source licenses that control open source projects are the most important considerations. 86% of respondents believe that “acceptable open source licenses” are important for deciding to use open source packages, and 61% describe them as “very important”. In large companies with more than a thousand employees, developers who consider open source licenses to be extremely important account for up to 78%.

Of course, the license is not the only factor considered. The survey shows that the level of activity and maintenance of open source projects is equally important. However, there are good reasons for open source licenses to be ranked first: no developers are willing to start using new packages without knowing how they will evolve. Over the years, the adoption rate of highly lenient licenses (Apache, BSD, MIT) has been rising sharply, while the more restrictive licenses (GPL) have shown a downward trend.

Via: TechRepublic