The community surrounding Opensource.com is hard at work on something new. Visitors to the platform may have noticed a distinct quietness settling over the site lately. That temporary lull is due to an exciting new project currently in the works behind the scenes. While specific details regarding the upcoming launch remain under wraps for the moment, there is already plenty to discuss about the direction of the platform and the fundamental nature of the open source movement. What better way to start exploring 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 reflect on where the digital world began. Most internet users know that the internet is a network, but the very definition of the word points to a group of interconnected connections. In fact, the term "internet" is a portmanteau combining "interconnected" and "network." Originally, the internet consisted of just two primary networks: the military network and the academic network.
As the technology gained popularity and expanded far beyond those two initial groups, it quickly became apparent that different designations were necessary. Society needed a way to clearly differentiate between various entities inhabiting the digital space—such as a commercial enterprise, a charitable organization, a university, or a governmental department.
These essential designations are known as top-level domains, or TLDs. While a vast array of TLD extensions are available to web architects today, for a long time there were only a handful. Those original top-level domains remain remarkably popular and culturally embedded in how we navigate the web. Most internet users intuitively understand that visiting a .com address means arriving at a commercial site, whereas heading to a .org address typically points toward a non-profit organization dedicated to a public mission.
Open source is a network
Just as the internet relies on interconnected systems to function, open source can embody many different forms and purposes. It can be commercial, it can be non-profit, it can be academic, and it can be cultural. No matter what specific form it takes, however, open source is always a network. Sometimes that network consists of computers and servers, but most importantly, it is fundamentally a network of people.
Whether individuals are gathering physically at an international conference, meeting informally at a local pub, or collaborating continuously in an online chat room, the open source movement is, at its core, a community of people working together.
For the past twelve years, the website Opensource.com has been supported by a commercial entity. That backing helped the platform grow into a widely recognized hub for sharing knowledge, stories, and ideas about collaborative software and decentralized development. However, the people—referring directly to the readers, contributors, and enthusiasts who make up the vibrant Opensource.com community—are not commercial entities. They are individual human beings driven by shared values of collaboration, openness, and collective innovation.
Now, a significant shift is on the horizon. In just one month, Opensource.com is going to resolve that fundamental discrepancy, aligning the platform more closely with the people who power it. Stay tuned as further announcements and details regarding this exciting new project unfold in the coming weeks.
