Data Openness Levels

[basicthinker]

As believers and builders of data analysis, we always support more transparency, availability, and interoperability of data among dev tools and platforms. I think there are several levels of data openness:

0. Closed. The data is held by the tool provider but not accessible by the user. The risk of lock-in or data loss is high.
1. Open API. A user can access a snapshot or a subset of the data owned by the user through the APIs provided by the tool.
2. Open Format. All the user's data that supports the use of the tool is available in an open format that is accessible independently from the tool.
3. Open Log. All the user's data and change history are available in an open format.
4. Open Network. The users' data and network are accessible so that users are not bounded by the social network effect.

For example, GitHub Wiki is of Level 3 - Open Log as it is based on a Git repo. The data is fully available. In contrast, GitHub Discussions is currently of Level 1 - Open API as it is accessible through GitHub API, but I am not sure if a user can retrieve all data and history.

We may have a collection of dev tools and investigate their data openness levels - Join this table to develop it together: Dev Tools.

Of course, Dev Lake and Dev Table must reach at least Level 3 - Open Log.