Previous Edition Workshop

Staying true to OSS principles

Monday, 27 May 2024 @ 14:00 - 14:45

Financing Open Source work is not an easy task, and running an Open Source business is even more tricky. This quickly leads to questions about what is acceptable to run the business while still being attached to the Open Source philosophy.

Open core, SaaS, dual licensing are all examples of potential business models that may or may not be problematic (think of the recent trend of companies changing licenses to help their business). Hiring people with no open source background changes the culture of the company and may lead to a loss of interest in open source for some internal services, potentially loosing the initial spirit of the company and contact with the community. Some temporary financial troubles may lead to difficult decisions that may look incompatible with the open source ethics. Many events in a company can challenge the balance between business and open source.

We have no doubt that every attendee here is experiencing on a daily basis the difficulty of balancing the business needs and the open source principles. With this workshop, we want to encourage everyone to share their experience on this topic. What have you tried? What has failed, and why? What has succeeded, and do you recommend this approach? Is this balancing or is this compromising too much? What is your red line?”