They develop their systems of beliefs through a continuous process of refinement and dialogue among the believers themselves. In comparison to traditional religions – which are considered authoritarian, hierarchical, and change-resistant[citation needed] – they emphasize participation, self-determination, decentralization, and evolution. Followers see themselves as part of a more generalized open source movement, which does not limit itself to software, but applies the same principles to other organized, group efforts to create human artifacts.

Among the first examples of this movement, Yoans (followers of a religion called Yoism,[2] founded 1994) claim that their version of open source religion does not have allegiance to any spiritual guide, rather the sense of authority emerges from the group via consensus. Yoism combines rational inquiry, empiricism, and science with Spinozan or Einsteinian pantheism using a model inspired by open source software, specifically Linux.