The rise of open-source software has revolutionized the tech industry, allowing collaborative development of software projects that are freely shared.
This model, born from the free software movement, has evolved into a global community effort with major companies contributing alongside hobbyists.
While monetization remains a challenge, funding models are emerging, making open-source a viable career path.
Open-Source Collaboration: Software from giants like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, as well as smaller players, is shared openly for collaboration.
Evolution of Norms: Open-source was unconventional, but it's now the standard, with companies from various industries embracing it.
GitHub's Impact: GitHub standardized collaboration, hosting most open-source projects, and attracting even corporate involvement.
Business in Open-Source: Red Hat's support service model succeeded, while newer models like "open-core" offer proprietary add-ons.
Funding Dilemma: Volunteer-driven open-source projects face funding challenges, leading to issues like the Heartbleed vulnerability.
Emerging Solutions: GitHub Sponsors and similar initiatives aim to provide sustainable income for open-source contributors.