Readers visiting Opensource.com may have noticed a distinct quietness settling over the platform lately. While the publication has long been a bustling hub for articles, stories, and discussions about creating, adopting, and sharing open source solutions, the recent slowdown in publishing is far from a sign of inactivity. Behind the scenes, the community is hard at work on an ambitious new project. While specific details about the upcoming venture are still tightly under wraps and not yet ready for a formal public rollout, there is already plenty to discuss regarding the philosophy, history, and future of the people who make up the open source ecosystem. And what better way to begin framing this next chapter 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. Anyone who spends time online knows that the internet is, at its core, a network. By definition, a network is simply a group of interconnected connections. In fact, the very word "internet" is a portmanteau derived from "interconnected" and "network."
In its earliest days, the internet was a much smaller, highly specialized system consisting primarily of two distinct networks: the military network and the academic network. These early iterations served specific, highly controlled groups of researchers, defense personnel, and educators. However, as technology advanced and the internet began to capture the imagination of the wider public, it quickly became apparent that different designations were desperately needed.
As the user base expanded beyond military and academic institutions, the digital landscape required a way to easily differentiate entities. A mechanism was needed to tell users whether they were visiting a commercial enterprise, a charitable organization, a university, or a governmental department. These critical designations became known as top-level domains, commonly abbreviated as TLDs.
Today, internet users have access to a vast and diverse marketplace of TLDs, ranging from niche industry identifiers to regional extensions. However, for a long time, there were only a handful available to the public. These original top-level domains remain remarkably popular and culturally embedded in the web’s infrastructure to this day. Most internet users instinctively understand that when they type a .com address into their browser, they are visiting a commercial site. Conversely, when they navigate to a .org address, they expect to find a non-profit organization dedicated to a cause, a community, or a public service. These suffixes serve as immediate shorthand for the nature and purpose of the digital space being visited.
Open Source Is a Network
Just as the internet relies on interconnected networks to function, open source can embody many different forms, purposes, and expressions. Open source software and culture can be commercial, non-profit, academic, or artistic. It spans every geographic boundary and touches nearly every industry imaginable. Yet, no matter what specific form open source takes, it is fundamentally and always a network.
Sometimes, that network is literal—comprising servers, repositories, and computers communicating across the globe. But more importantly, and at its very heart, open source is a network of people. Whether individuals are gathering in person at a bustling global conference, catching up over drinks at a local pub, or collaborating asynchronously in an online chat room, open source is first and foremost a community of human beings working toward shared goals.
For the past twelve years, the website Opensource.com has been generously supported by a commercial entity, providing a steady platform for voices from across the technological spectrum to share their experiences. However, the people who actually make up the Opensource.com community—the writers, editors, advocates, contributors, and readers—are not commercial entities. They are simply people. They are individuals driven by a passion for collaboration, transparency, and the free exchange of knowledge.
The realization of this dynamic has sparked a new direction. In just one month, Opensource.com is going to resolve that underlying mismatch and take a significant step forward. The community is preparing to unveil what comes next, turning a page on over a decade of history while honoring the human connections that made the platform possible in the first place.
As preparations continue behind the scenes, readers and contributors are encouraged to stay tuned for the official reveal. Followers can keep up with the latest updates and announcements by following the platform on Twitter at @opensourceway, as the community gets ready to share the details of its exciting new chapter with the rest of the interconnected world.
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