Does open source need its own Priority of Constituencies?

A presentation at FOSDEM21 in February 2021 in by Tobie Langel

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Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen Does open source need its own Priority of Constituencies?

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Open source crisis ● Maintainer burnt out. ● Cloud capturing too much value. ● Ethical concerns over impact on end-users. Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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What’s going on? We’re witnessing the emergence of new constituencies. Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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The 4 freedoms & the OSD Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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The 4 freedoms & the OSD Users Developers Large overlap Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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How do we handle this increased diversity of constituencies? Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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W3C’s Priority of Constituencies Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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W3C priority of constituencies End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Size of each constituency End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity Billions Millions Thousands Tens Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Cost of 1 hour of spec work End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity 1,000,000,000 h 1,000,000 h 100 h 1h Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Apache Software Foundation mantra End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Apache Software Foundation mantra End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Apache Software Foundation mantra End users > Theoretical purity Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Apache Software Foundation mantra People > Code Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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What would an open source priority of constituencies look like? Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Open source priority of constituencies People Contributors App devs End users Maintainers (Individuals & Cloud infra corporations) Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Open source priority of constituencies People > End users > App devs > Cloud infra > Contributors > Maintainers > Theor. pur. Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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But is W3C’s priority of constituencies a silver bullet? Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Economic situation End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity 💵 💰💰 💰💰💰💰💰 💵 💰💰💰💰💰 Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Economic situation End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity 💵 💰💰 💰💰💰💰💰 💵 💰💰💰💰💰 Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Economic situation End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity 💵 💰💰 💰💰💰💰💰 💵 💰💰💰💰💰 Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Economic situation End users > Authors > Implementors > Spec editors > Theoretical purity 💵 💰💰 💵 💰💰💰💰💰 💰💰💰💰 ` 💰 Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Let’s apply this to open source. Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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The canary in the coal mine Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Open source priority of constituencies People > End users > App devs > Cloud infra > Contributors > Maintainers > Theor. pur. Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Open source priority of constituencies People > End users > App devs > Cloud infra > Contributors > Maintainers > Theor. pur. 💵 💵 💰💰 💰💰💰 💵 💵 💰💰💰

💰💰 💰💰 Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Open source priority of constituencies People > End users > App devs > Cloud infra > Contributors > Maintainers > Theor. pur. 💵 💵 💰💰 💰💰💰 💵 💵 💰💰💰

💰💰 💰💰 Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Open source priority of constituencies 💰💰 People > End users > App devs > Cloud infra > Contributors > Maintainers > Theor. pur. 💵 💵 💰 💰💰💰 💵 💵 💰💰

💰💰 💰💰 Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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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. Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen

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Tobie Langel (@tobie) Principal, UnlockOpen Thank you.