Dries Buytaert Proposes 60-Second Procurement Test for Open Source Vendors

Open Source buyers should be able to verify a vendor's contribution record without reconstructing years of project activity themselves, according to Dries Buytaert. In a 9 September 2026 blog post, the Drupal founder proposed what he calls a 60-second procurement test. A buyer, he argues, should be able to determine whether a vendor contributes, how its contribution compares with others, and whether its work covers the parts of a project relevant to the purchase.

Buytaert argues that Open Source projects with commercial or institutional funding ecosystems should publish official contribution records rather than leave buyers to reconcile vendor claims themselves. Such records could cover who contributes, how much and over what period, the type of work involved, the parts of the project affected and, where disclosed, who funded the work. Drupal provides his main example: the project has tracked contribution credits since 2015, including work associated with individual contributors, organisations and customers funding contributions. Buytaert points to the Drupal.org marketplace as an example of contribution data being used to help buyers examine service providers, while arguing that projects are best placed to define which forms of contribution matter and how they should be weighted.

Buytaert stresses that contribution does not demonstrate whether a vendor can successfully deliver a project, describing it as one procurement factor alongside delivery capability, expertise, and price. He also argues that smaller Open Source projects do not need infrastructure as extensive as Drupal's and could begin with an official repository file identifying recognised organisational contributors and the areas where they worked. His broader recommendation is for projects to make contribution records easy to find and interpret so buyers and funders can check vendor participation without separately reconstructing each bidder's contribution history. For the full argument, read The 60-second procurement test.