Jeffrey McGuire — of Acquia, the Drupal version of Automattic — has a great post and accompanying podcast on, “idealism and what successful open source looks like.” It does a great job expressing common ideals. My favorite bit:
I want you to be successful at free/libre open source software. That means building safe and secure applications that maintain our privacy and our freedom. And they need to be compelling. We’re living in the iPhone age; we’re living in the world where beautiful, fantastic digital experiences are available to all of us very cheaply, and we have to build those, too. Let’s keep that in mind. They–your sites and applications–should empower people to do good, to do well, to realize their own visions. That’s what we’re here for.
To be “successful,” in my opinion, open source projects and products need to be all of the following:
- Safe by default
- Secure by default
- Compelling by default
- Empowering by default
Enjoy the full post, and podcast if you have a chance.
