The community is hard at work on something new.
Visitors to Opensource.com may have noticed that it has been relatively quiet on the platform lately. That lull in activity is directly tied to a new project currently in the works behind the scenes. While organizers note that there are not many specific details to announce just yet, there is already plenty to talk about regarding the future of the platform and the community that sustains it. What better way to start exploring that future than by looking at the very fabric of the internet itself?
The Internet, and Top-Level Domains
To understand where the community is heading, it helps to examine where the digital world began. Most internet users know that the internet is, fundamentally, a network. By definition, a network is a group of interconnected connections. In fact, the word "internet" is a portmanteau of the words "interconnected" and "network."
Originally, the modern internet consisted of just two primary networks: the military network and the academic network. As the technology began to grow and popularize outside of those two initial groups, it quickly became apparent that different designations were needed to help users differentiate between various types of entities. For example, a system was required to tell the difference between a commercial business, a charitable organization, a university, and a governmental department.
These critical designations are known as top-level domains, or TLDs. While there are countless top-level domains available across the web today, for a long time there were only a handful of options guiding web traffic. The original TLDs remain exceptionally popular and form the backbone of web navigation habits. Most internet users instinctively know that when they type in a ".com" address, they are visiting a commercial site. Conversely, when they navigate to a ".org" address, they recognize that they are visiting a non-profit organization’s website. These extensions provide immediate context about the nature of the digital space a user is visiting.
Open Source Is a Network
Just as the internet relies on a web of connections, open source can represent many different things depending on the context. Open source initiatives can be commercial in nature, non-profit, academic, or purely cultural. No matter what specific form it takes, however, open source is always a network.
Sometimes that network consists of physical computers and servers sharing code across vast distances, but most importantly, it is a network of people. Whether those individuals are gathering in person at a major technology conference, catching up at a local pub, or collaborating in an online chat room, the open source movement is fundamentally a community of human beings working together toward shared goals.
For the past twelve years, the website Opensource.com has been generously supported by a commercial entity. That corporate backing provided stability and resources for over a decade. However, the people—the individuals making up the vibrant Opensource.com community—are not commercial entities. They are people, contributors, advocates, and users who share a passion for open principles.
In just one month, Opensource.com is going to resolve that misalignment and enter a new chapter. Stay tuned for what comes next as the community steps forward into its next evolution.
Opensource.com regularly publishes stories about creating, adopting, and sharing open source solutions, maintaining a steady presence across digital channels. Readers and community members can follow updates and announcements via Twitter at @opensourceway.
Content published on the platform is made available to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License, ensuring that the spirit of openness extends from the software and stories all the way to the licensing terms governing the work.
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