Open source for fun and profit: rethinking the long road of sustainability.

Open source for fun and profit: rethinking the long road of sustainability.

It is not an understatement to say that today, in 2021, the world runs on open source. Wherever you look, you will find open-source software in the wild - whether you have a smartphone in your pocket or if you see a self-driving car passing by or rockets orbiting in space, open-source is even in simple tasks as deciding what to watch tonight. Open-source software and open infrastructure not only serve as the engine that powers our world. It also enables folks to get together and connect isolated individuals, communities, and missions.

With this in mind, the most important questions we should be asking is: who and what fuels open source? In this presentation, I will discuss how open source can bring individuals together to form communities. And more importantly, how we can rethink open-source and labour to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Transcript

1. OSS for Fun and Profit
   Rethinking the long road to sustainability
   DDD E a st Midla nds 2021
   Tania Allard, PhD (she-her)
   trallard.dev @ixek
   

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2. About me
   Tania Allard
   Co director Quansight Labs
   Director PSF
   Member of Pyladies Global Council
   Chair DISC (Diversity in Scientific Computing)
   Industrial Fellow Alan Turing Institute
   GDE (Google Developer Expert) Machine
   Learning
   All around open source nerd and advocate
   Mechanical Keyboards aficionada
   

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3. 1# Brief History Lesson
   2# The State of Current Affairs
   3# Sustaining OSS
   4# Wrapping-Up
   3
   trallard.dev @ixek
   Content
   

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4. Every day life
   Open your phone, social media, news,
   medical records, your credit score,
   your bank app, your new self driving
   car. They all have something in
   common: they are all using (or are
   built with) free and public software
   4
   trallard.dev @ixek
   

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5. 5
   Chapter 1
   A brief history of free and public
   software and the people who built it
   trallard.dev @ixek
   

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6. 6
   Because Free and Open
   were not always the
   norm
   trallard.dev @ixek
   

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7. 7
   MS-Dos was released in 1981,
   marking the emergence of the
   commercial licenses.
   No copies, no distribution, no
   modification.
   Precedent
   This marks the emergence of proprietary
   software
   

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8. 8
   1983 GNU birth leading to
   the “free software movement”
   1984 Free Software
   foundation
   Activism
   Free software has its
   roots in social
   advocacy
   

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9. 9
   Shifting the conversation from
   politics to technology
   Technology shift
   Netscape released
   The source code
   Of their browser
   Leading to the birth of Open Source
   and the Open Source Initiative
   

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10. 10
    You know what free and
    open source software are
    trallard.dev @ixek
    I did not want to make the assumption that
    

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11. The four
    freedoms
    11
    0# Run
    2# Redistribute 3# Improve
    The software for any purpose
    And make copies so you can
    help your neighbour
    The programme and release your
    improvements to the public so the
    whole community benefits
    trallard.dev @ixek
    1# Study
    How the programme works
    https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html#four-freedoms
    

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12. The four
    freedoms
    12
    Free as Beer 🍻
    No price tag included
    (Spanish gratis)
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Free as a Bird 🦜
    Free software movement
    (Spanish libre)
    Free as speech
    Unfortunately many
    conflate these two
    

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13. Open Source definiton
    1. Free Distribution
    2. Source Code
    3. Derived Works
    4. Integrity of the Author’s Source Code
    5. No Discrimination Against Groups or
    Individuals
    13
    trallard.dev @ixek
    6. No Discrimination Against Fields of
    Endeavour
    7. Distribution of License
    8. License Must Not Be Specific to a
    Product
    9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
    10.License Must Be Technology Neutral
    https://opensource.org/osd-annotated
    

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14. 14
    A social unit of people
    who share common
    values and mission
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Community
    

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15. From the book 15
    “Open Source is a development methodology; free
    software is a social movement”
    Richard Stallman
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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16. 16
    Chapter 2
    The State of Open Source in 2021
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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17. 17
    FOSS makes it
    exponentially
    cheaper and easier
    to build software
    Long gone are the days when
    companies relied only on
    proprietary software
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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18. 18
    FOSS makes it
    exponentially
    cheaper and easier
    to build software
    Open Source has fuelled the
    startup boom
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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19. 19
    Given us, tech folks,
    higher bargaining
    power
    Move from one company to
    another? Fine
    Want better opportunities?
    Bring your knowledge and
    expertise with you
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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20. 20
    Has the potential to
    be more stable and
    secure
    Theoretically it has many more
    eyes and hands on, meaning the
    code should be less vulnerable to
    security flaws and disruption in
    service
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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21. 21
    Overall increase of
    FOSS usage and
    adoption over the
    last decades
    🎉
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Resulting in
    

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22. By the numbers 22
    GitHub Octoverse 2021
    trallard.dev @ixek
    https://octoverse.github.com/
    

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23. By the numbers 23
    GitHub Octoverse 2021
    trallard.dev @ixek
    https://octoverse.github.com/
    

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24. By the numbers 24
    GitHub Octoverse 2021
    trallard.dev @ixek
    https://octoverse.github.com/
    

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25. Come 2016
    Nadia Eghbal released
    “Rotes and Bridges”
    About me 25
    trallard.dev @ixek
    https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/learning/research-reports/roads-and-bridges-the-unseen-labor-behind-our-digital-infrastructure/
    

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26. From the book 26
    “In a world driven by the technology, we are putting
    increased demand on those who maintain our digital
    infrastructure”
    Nadia Eghbal
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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27. Companies and orgs for
    open source funding
    Mozilla Open Source Support Grants
    Liberapay
    Open Collective
    GitHub Sponsors
    Linux Foundation Community Bridge
    CZI EOSS grants
    27
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Technologists turned to their
    comfort zone: build software
    

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28. One thing i s not the s ame a s the other 28
    Money and
    sustainability
    Not the same
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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29. There is a problem
    Volunteer burnout
    Community mismanagement
    Lack of governance
    Larger funding needed for critical
    improvements
    29
    trallard.dev @ixek
    But we are trying to solve them
    with short-term crowdfunding
    

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30. An oldie but goodie
    trallard.dev @ixek
    https://twitter.com/choldgraf/status/1149670192982700032
    

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31. 31
    FOSS sustainability is
    a very complex
    problem
    Don’t you say
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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32. FOSS sustainability
    essentials
    New-Theme 32
    1# Contributing
    Back
    2# Human and
    Environmental
    Diversity (Geo,
    Tools, People)
    3# Community
    Safety
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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33. 33
    Chapter 3
    Reimagining sustainability
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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34. 34
    Calculating the cost of
    open source
    sustainability
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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35. 35
    Indirect
    costs
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Direct
    costs
    

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36. 36
    Developing an OSS
    sustainability strategy (that
    works for your team)
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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37. 1. Determine what projects are
    critical or strategically important for
    your team
    37
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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38. 2. Evaluate the longevity needs of
    the project and current gaps
    38
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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39. 3. Contribute, listen, engage,
    participate
    39
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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40. From the book 40
    “Access is not only about being able to read but being
    able to have a voice and shape the directions, economic
    models and infrastructure”
    Juan Pablo Alperin
    trallard.dev @ixek
    https://www.force11.org/blog/open-access-inclusion-interview-juan-pablo-alperin
    

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41. As a company
    41
    Administrative support
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Fiscal Sponsorship-
    Corporate programmes
    Improving relationships between projects
    and external stakeholders
    Increasing support of diverse skills sets
    and non-coding functions
    

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42. As an individual
    42
    Talent
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Time
    Money
    

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43. 43
    Quansight Labs is a non profit division of Quansight
    created to provide a home for a “PyData Core Team”
    which consists of developers, community managers,
    designers, and documentation writers who build open-
    source technology around all aspects of the AI and Data
    Science workflow.
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Us
    

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44. As a company
    44
    Administrative support
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Fiscal Sponsorship-
    Corporate programmes
    Improving relationships between projects
    and external stakeholders
    Increasing support of diverse skills sets
    and non-coding functions
    

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45. As a company
    45
    Administrative support ✅
    trallard.dev @ixek
    Fiscal Sponsorship-✅
    Community work orders
    Hire, mentor, support emerging leaders in
    OSS
    Guaranteed time and resources for OSS
    maintainers and core devs
    

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46. 46
    Chapter 4
    Hopefully by now I have convinced you
    to support OSS
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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47. 47
    It takes time and
    commitment
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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48. So why doing it?
    More reliable products and supply chain
    Collaboration between groups
    Better communication
    Improved employee retention and
    recruiting
    48
    trallard.dev @ixek
    As a company
    

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49. So why doing it?
    Build reputation
    Create new opportunities for oneself and
    others
    Support emerging markets
    Increase tech equity and democratisation
    49
    trallard.dev @ixek
    As an individual
    

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50. La st words 50
    And it is so
    worth it 💜
    trallard.dev @ixek
    

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51. La st words 51
    trallard.dev @ixek
    https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/
    

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52. 52
    Thanks
    Tania Allard
    @ixek
    

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