Abstract
The early days of open source were all about creating an approachable on-ramp to software freedom. We focused strongly on the practical benefits of free software, and refined the message hoping to help the business sector better understand what we’d been saying since the early 1980s. We succeeded to such an extent that modern open source is characterized by active use, participation, and contribution from the largest Fortune 50 tech giants to the smallest Silicon Valley startups, and everything in between. Success at our first goal doesn’t mean we’re done, it only means we’re due for the next phase of open source. The potential of what we might accomplish, using the resources of the entire tech industry, is both inspiring and daunting. This talk explores the past, present, and future of open source, and its impact on technology innovation in the industry today.
