The community is hard at work on something new. Regular visitors to Opensource.com may have noticed that things have been uncharacteristically quiet on the platform lately. Behind the scenes, a brand-new project is currently in the works. While specific project details remain under wraps for the moment, the community has plenty to talk about as it looks toward the future of collaborative technology and shared knowledge. And what better way to start a conversation about networks, domains, and open collaboration than by looking at the entire internet itself?
The Internet, and Top-Level Domains
To understand where open source communities are heading, it is helpful to look at how the digital landscape was constructed from the ground up. Most internet users know that the internet is fundamentally a network. By definition, a network is simply a group of interconnected connections. In fact, the very word "internet" is a portmanteau combining "interconnected" and "network."
In its earliest days, the internet consisted of just two primary networks: a military network and an academic network. As the technology matured and gained popularity far outside those two initial specialized groups, it quickly became apparent that different designations were necessary to differentiate between various types of entities inhabiting the digital space. For example, administrators needed a way to distinguish a commercial entity from a charitable organization, a university, or a governmental department.
These critical designations are formally known as top-level domains, or TLDs. While there are countless TLD options available to domain buyers today, for a very long time, the internet relied on only a handful of foundational extensions. Those original top-level domains remain remarkably popular and culturally embedded in how we navigate the web today. Most internet users intuitively know that visiting a .com address typically means visiting a commercial site, whereas navigating to a .org address means visiting a non-profit organization’s website. These extensions serve as digital neighborhood markers, signaling the underlying intent and structure of the organization behind the screen.
Open Source Is a Network
Just as the internet relies on infrastructure and connectivity, open source can represent many different things depending on the context. It can be commercial, it can be non-profit, it can be academic, or it can be cultural. No matter what specific form open source takes, however, it is always fundamentally a network.
Sometimes—though certainly not always—that network is physical, consisting of computers, servers, and routers passing packets of data across the globe. More importantly, however, open source is a network of people. Whether those human connections happen when contributors gather in person at a bustling conference, catch up over drinks at a local pub, or collaborate continuously in an online chat room, the heartbeat of the open source movement is its community of people.
For the past twelve years, the website Opensource.com has been supported by a commercial entity, providing a steady publishing platform for stories about the open source world. However, the individuals—representing both the readers and the contributors, which means you and me—that make up the actual Opensource.com community are not commercial entities. We are people. We are human beings driven by curiosity, a shared passion for transparent technology, and a desire to build solutions together.
Now, a new chapter is preparing to unfold. In just one month, Opensource.com is going to resolve that long-standing structural gap, aligning its platform more closely with the community spirit that has always fueled it. Stay tuned as more details emerge regarding this exciting new project.
Leave a Reply