Ben Cotton is a meteorologist by training, but weather makes a great hobby. Ben works as the Fedora Program Manager at Red Hat. He co-founded a local open source meetup group, and is a member of the Open Source Initiative and a supporter of Software Freedom Conservancy. Find him on Twitter (@FunnelFiasco) or at FunnelFiasco.com.

Authored Content

Brand and community balancing on a see-saw

How an open community rebrands

A community's brand is its visual identity, its logo a unifying symbol. How does a community rebrand in the open?
Bryan Behrenshausen (Red Hat) Ben Cotton (Red Hat) Laura Hilliger 09 Aug 2020
failure sign at a party, celebrating failure

Why making mistakes makes me a better sysadmin

The trick is to not make the same mistake twice.
Ben Cotton (Red Hat) 02 Aug 2020 2 comments
A two way street sign

How an open project's governance model evolves

As open projects mature, their governance models inevitably change. Here's how we're evolving ours.
Bryan Behrenshausen (Red Hat) Ben Cotton (Red Hat) Laura Hilliger 02 Jul 2020 2 comments
a big flag flying in a sea of other flags, teamwork

How to scale an open, energetic community

Open communities are living, breathing entities that grow and change. Join us as we help one evolve.
Bryan Behrenshausen (Red Hat) Ben Cotton (Red Hat) Laura Hilliger Jen Kelchner 02 Jun 2020 2 comments

New Linux integrity checker from Microsoft, Raspberry Pi smart TV replacement from KDE, and more open source news

Catch up on the biggest open source headlines from the past two weeks.
Ben Cotton (Red Hat) 11 Apr 2020
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Contributed Content

Person in a field of dandelions

Announcing the Opensource.com Correspondent program

Top authors on Opensource.com have new levels of access, support, and exclusive opportunities.
Matthew Broberg (Red Hat) 25 Nov 2019 4 comments
Summer reading list

2019 Opensource.com summer reading list

13 books to inform and entertain you during the long, lazy days of summer.
Joshua Allen Holm (Correspondent) 28 Jun 2019 1 comment
Cat laying in the grass next to a not animals allowd sign

Haters gonna hate: 7 ways to deal with criticism

Learn how to handle the haters in a way that fits your personal needs, the community norms, and the specifics of the situation.
Jason van Gumster 27 Apr 2017 14 comments

Authored Comments

Commented on 26 Oct 2020
10 Ansible modules for Linux system automation
What's your recommendation for handling the correct package names across multiple OSes?
Commented on 30 Sep 2020
Is it time to revise the Open Source Definition?
This is a really thoughtful article. I think the other thing that we would want to consider is data. We've focused on software for so long and it turns out that maybe the data is more important than the software. It's a...
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