contribute

Think of the last time you walked up to a complete stranger, stuck out your hand and said, “Hi, my name is …” Depending on how often you do that, it was probably a scary moment. Before you walked up to the person, you had to steel your nerves, decide what you were going to say, and then approach them.

Joining an open source software project is a bit like that. You have to send a mail to a huge list of random people. Or file a bugzilla bug that goes to a ton of random people. » Read more

I’ve written before about the genuine renaissance open source software represents and the vast implications that openness provides. I’ve admitted that computer science, based on its relative unwillingness to share great ideas, has lagged behind other hard sciences in its understanding of how and where value is created. » Read more

Netflix gets it. They understand the power of open source.

Kevin McEntee, VP of Systems & ECommerce Engineering at Netflix wrote a blog post about how Netflix does more than just consume open source. McEntee highlights three key components of the open source way that typically equate to success. He doesn't refer to them this clearly, but the three components he's really talking about are: » Read more

Find out the answer on Thursday, October 21 at 1:00pm (EDT) at the Open Your World webcast on "Good Faith Collaboration at Wikipedia" featuring Joseph Reagle. Register now, seating is limited.

Dave Cole, Senior Advisor to the CIO of the Executive Office of the President, presented an awesome keynote to more than 3,000 attendees at DrupalCon San Francisco 2010 on April 21. His keynote was about open source in government, and he talked about how whitehouse.gov has become a platform to foster citizen participation. Although I found the technology part interesting, it was the philosophy and open source principles that Dave talked about that are enabling the executive branch of the United States government to be more open and transparent. » Read more

If you're interested in writing for opensource.com, you'll need to register with the site and complete your profile, biography, and add your picture. Then contact the moderator of the most appropriate channel (Business, Education, Government, Law, or Life) through the contact form. You can submit a topic idea or a draft. If you're not sure which channel is best, use the category "Share your open source story."

» Read more