Recently, several open source companies attracted a lot of attention after their announcements of license changes. Not surprisingly, these shifts sparked backlash from open source enthusiasts, prompting some to create community-driven forks under open source foundations.
Now there is growing skepticism toward (single) company backed open source projects, with many arguing that open source projects should be run by neutral foundations to prevent future bait-and-switch tactics. But is foundation backing really the answer?
Drawing on over a decade of experience in both open source foundations and companies, Fatih and Ray will compare foundation-backed and company-backed projects across key areas such as governance, roadmap planning, community, and funding. They’ll explore real-world examples of successful—and not-so-successful—projects in both models.
Finally, Fatih and Ray will discuss why funding models should be just one of several factors in assessing the long-term viability of open source projects. They’ll offer a holistic approach for evaluating open source projects, helping developers and decision-makers make informed choices about which projects to adopt, support, or contribute to.