Does open source need its own Priority of Constituencies?

Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

Open source crisis

  • Maintainer burnt out.
  • Cloud capturing too much value.
  • Ethical concerns over impact on end-users.

What’s going on? We’re witnessing the emergence of new constituencies.

The 4 freedoms & the OSD

The 4 freedoms & the OSD

How do we handle this increased diversity of constituencies?

W3C’s Priority of Constituencies

W3C priority of constituencies

End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity

Size of each constituency

Cost of 1 hour of spec work

Apache Software Foundation mantra

Apache Software Foundation mantra

Apache Software Foundation mantra

End users > Theoretical purity

Apache Software Foundation mantra

People > Code

What would an open source priority of constituencies look like?

Open source priority of constituencies

Open source priority of constituencies

People > End users > App devs > Cloud infra > Contributors > Maintainers > Theor. pur.

But is W3C’s priority of constituencies a silver bullet?

Economic situation

Economic situation

Economic situation

Economic situation

Let’s apply this to open source.

The canary in the coal mine

Open source priority of constituencies

People > End users > App devs > Cloud infra > Contributors > Maintainers > Theor. pur. `

Open source priority of constituencies

Open source priority of constituencies

Open source priority of constituencies

Benefits of a priority of constituencies

  • Keeps focus on people & downstream impact.
  • Maximizes benefits to the commons by upstreaming work.
  • Surfaces discrepancies between economic situation and work expectations.