Next Tuesday, I will be launching a new speaker series called “Open Source in Business” designed to explore some of the issues around creating a sustainable business around an open source project. We have three episodes scheduled out so far, with more being confirmed every day. I think several of the topics are relevant to anyone working on an open source project who wants to become self-sustaining. Our first episode will focus on open source product management.
I might be able to help with the future topic question: “How can I tell if an open source project will be around in 5 years?” This is something we have explored in the CHAOSS project and I have some opinions
We are now at episode 3, and the next one will be great! I have Alyssa Wright and Dirk Riehle in to talk about the labour economics of open source. We’re going to talk about a few perspectives on the topic:
What can you do as an individual to get hired as an open source developer?
How can I get a company to pay me to work on my open source project?
As someone developing a popular open source project, how can I capture some of the value that the project creates for its users?
I hope that we will get into some of the criteria that companies consider before hiring someone to work on a project, how to identify industry trends that provide a higher probability of getting hired, and how to put together the beginnings of a business plan for your project so that you can evaluate the possibility of bootstrapping a company around it.
You can register for the next episode on Crowdcast now and add it to your calendar, and get a reminder before the event: The Labor Economics of Open Source
