2025-03-10 –, bUm Box
This talk connects the everyday open source work we do with the big changes we (can) make. It gives you zeal and perspectives for explaining what you do. If there’s a type of talk every open source event should have, this is the one — because explaining open source can be hard.
Open source technology, practice, and thinking have revolutionized how we innovate, collaborate, and do business — and if you’re at FOSS Backstage, it’s probably paying your rent. But it is so much more. Can openness, sharing, and good governance teach us how to live in a peaceful, free, and democratic society?
Open source is radical. We will explore open source's “radical openness” and enlightened self-interest in multiple dimensions and at different scales. We'll connect this extraordinary philosophy to your work life and what can become your life’s work.
Open source is (almost) unknown. Outside our circles, most people don’t know about it. Learn how to explain how different an open source economy is to traditional business and how we can empower individuals, organizations, and even countries to create better outcomes.
Open source is practice. Open source fails without action. We will look at the challenges open source faces today, like the misunderstandings that lead decision-makers to choose proprietary software, the threat from freemium, and “open source in name only,” and actions we all can take to fix it.
Open source is good and does good. Openness and good governance are qualities of more than just well-functioning open source projects. Finally, we will connect the microcosm of a single code commit to the macrocosm of a peaceful, free, and democratic society.
Whatever your open source project is to you, this is what you could be to the world, with your open source project.
Jeffrey A. “jam” McGuire is a Partner at Open Strategy Partners, where he helps open source and other B2B tech organizations communicate and grow, finding and telling the stories that connect their technologies with the value they deliver. He builds on nearly twenty years of experience in open source technology, at the intersection of software, business, and culture. His approach to technology marketing is centered on sharing the human context of complex technology solutions. As co-Founder of the German Drupal Association, community-building is close to Jeffrey’s heart. He enjoys celebrating creators’ expertise and combining storytelling and performance to convey information and motivate his audiences. He’s based in Cologne, Germany.
Mathias Bolt Lesniak lives outside Oslo, Norway, with his Kiwi wife and two kids. He is the official project ambassador of the TYPO3 CMS project and lives to increase the impact of open source through increased cross-community collaboration. He is an experienced and lively public speaker who builds engagement in open source communities by highlighting the connection between code and society at large. He has done numerous conference keynotes and motivational talks centering on topics less commonly addressed — but vitally important to open source success.