Linuxfest Northwest 2014

Geek Empowerment:The Real Heart of Open Source

---Russell Pavlicek

Xen Project EvangelistRussell.Pavlicek@XenProject.org

About the Old, Fat Geek up front...

● Linux user since 1995; became a Linux advocate immediately

● Delivered many early talks on Open Source Advocacy

● Former Open Source columnist for Infoworld, Processor magazines

● Former weekly panelist on “The Linux Show”

● Wrote one of the first books on Open Source: Embracing Insanity: Open Source Software Development

● 30 years in the industry; 20+ years in software services consulting

● Currently Evangelist for the Xen Project (employed by Citrix)

● Over 50 FOSS talks delivered; over 150 FOSS pieces published

Open Source: Success... or Failure?

● Open Source drives the world!

– The Internet breathes Open Source air● Web servers, mail servers, app servers, etc.● Silent benefactor of the Y2K insanity

– So many companies tapped out budgets with Y2K, yet needed Web technologies

– Sysadmins improvised with low cost, high quality FOSS solutions which often ran on scrap hardware

– But it wasn't always this way...

1990s: The Fight for Legitimacy

● In the 1990s, everyone wanted legitimacy

– Constantly ignored by analysts, trade media, C-level mangement

– Open Source was dismissed as “hacker's toys”

– Software “written by teenagers in their garages”

– Movement was almost 100% volunteer hackers

– Passion ran high, code was moving fast, but Free Software / Open Source was not held in high regard at all

Today: Open Source has Legitimacy!

● We are active throughout the IT industry

– Trade Media regularly report on Open Source news

– C-level Management is acquainted with, if not embracing, the presence of Open Source in the datacenter

– Analysts even pay attention

– Huge numbers of people are employed creating, using, and supporting Open Source solutions

– Open Source is seen as a type of collaborative software development methodology

It's All Good! Or Is It?

● WE WON!!!

– We've earned legitimacy

– We've gotten jobs

– We've gotten respect

– We've gotten everything we wanted...

Or Did We?

But Are We Forgetting the Heart of FOSS?

● I suggest the Heart of Open Source was never the code itself, but the people

– It wasn't primarily a revolution in methodology (although it was that as well), it was a revolution of Geekdom

– It was not as much about reinventing software as it was about reinventing US!

– Open Source changed the way Geeks saw themselves, and the way the world saw them

● But this lesson is slowly being erased from FOSS...

A Brief History of Geekdom

● Geeks Prior to the FOSS revolution:

– We were corporate power tools● Highly talented, highly skilled● But others did the deciding about what to do and

how● Executed the plans of Product Management● “Suggest anything you want... but just do what

you're told!”● Little respect, little self-worth, little bargaining power

Dawn of Geek Fervor and Passion

● The arrival of FOSS brings about a change in the Geek Mind

● My observations from the 1997 Atlanta Linux Showcase

– ~500 geeks (mostly of the fat, white, male variety) on a weekend

– Cheap hotel, with all the sugar, fat, and caffeine you could stand (read: Wendy's)

– Fire in the eyes and the bellies; true passion and enthusiasm

● It wasn't about “a new model of commercial software development”

● It wasn't even about the “Four Freedoms” (sorry RMS)● It wasn't about employment (just the opposite)● It was about self-realization and empowerment

Early FOSS: Geeks Unleashed!

● There was no one in the room to say, “No”

– Huge step forward in the development of geek power

– No longer simply power tools of organizations

● The old corporate restrictions on thoughts and actions were totally gone (e.g., “Mordac the Preventer” from Dilbert)

● Suddenly, Geeks were decision makers● We did what we thought was right – and the ecosystem would

judge if we were right or wrong● Geeks developed their voice, figuratively and literally

– e.g., Miguel de Icaza at Linux Expo in the late 1990s– And me too!

Early FOSS: People Centerstage

● The Code: Incredibly important

– It is the output of the work

● The Four Freedoms: Highly important

– They enabled the movement

● But the People: We were the story!

– We learned to think for ourselves

– We learned to speak out for ourselves

– We learned to write for ourselves

– We became empowered in ways that few Geeks before us ever were

– This eventually resulted in economic power as well

Dreams of “The Brass Ring”

● In the 1990s, few folks had a job working with Open Source

– Neither as developers, nor as users

– People developed code nights and weekends, on their own time

– Getting a job working with Open Source was “the brass ring”

● A dream more than a goal● People who were paid to work with Open Source were held

in awe; they almost had an “aura” around them– But even their positions were tenuous– There were no truly stable Linux vendors

Today: The “Brass Ring” Achieved!

● Most Open Source conferences I've attended in the past year have been populated by people paid to create, use, or support Open Source

● Open Source has legitimacy in the marketplace

– Few are the scoffers compared to the old days

– Even Barad-dûr in Redmond is less ominous than it once was

“Brass Ring” or “Brass Handcuffs?”

● But have the jobs left the most important part behind?

– Have we sacrificed empowerment for jobs?

– Does your job allow you to make Open Source decisions?

– Does your job allow you to contribute as you see fit?

– Does your job force you to be a corporate voice in Open Source at the cost of your own voice?

– Are you once again a Corporate Power Tool, even while working on Open Source?

The Rise of “Fake Open Source”

● There's something new in the world: software which has an Open Source license, but NOT an Open Source mindset!

– Frequently created the old, closed source way and then thrown over the wall to consumers

– No organic community formed

– No empowered geeks

– Open Source is “just a job” like any other traditional closed source software job

Fearful Questions Arise

● Is Success Killing Open Source?

– Do the new people understand the history of the movement?

– Do they have the passion of their predecessors?

– Do they understand what it is to do FOSS as individuals?

– Is FOSS “just a job” to the new folks?● If they lost their job today, would they do FOSS tomorrow?● When they participate, are they using their own thoughts,

or merely parroting the positions of their employers?

What I Have Witnessed Recently

● I have been to about a dozen Open Source conferences in the past year

● My cohorts from 10+ years ago are noticeably absent

– Open Source today is driven by a new crowd

– Many are identified by the corporations they represent

● Enthusiasm seems solid, even if the people are relatively new and most have FOSS-related jobs

● Unfortunately, most seem to only have a sketchy knowledge of FOSS history

● Not sure if they know what it is to work on their own time

● If these people represent “the cream of the crop,” what of the rest?

What of the Rest Indeed?

● I've asked people at conferences if they would continue working with FOSS if their job went away, and most have said “Yes”

– But a few have said “No”

– And people who attend conferences frequently can be far more driven than those who do not attend

● What if these others are just “doing a job?” If their opinion belongs to those paying their paycheck? If they don't really care about Open Source?

● Can these transform Open Source into just another commercial software development model?

Open Source Can Lose Its Way!

Unless...

We Must Teach Empowerment!

● We who care must take it upon ourselves to teach those in our locus of influence

● It's not about lecturing, brow-beating, or criticizing others

– It's about informing them about the history, the passion, the purpose

– It's about lighting the fire under people; getting them to discover the personal freedom and self-realization of Open Source for themselves

– It's about the people; software of the people, by the people, for the people

– Start by telling YOUR STORY of Open Source!

Your Assignment: Let Others Know

● If the spirit of Open Source is to survive and thrive it takes YOU to get involved and teach what you know

– In the world today, the truth is rare – and powerful; speak it!

● It's not academic; it's about letting passion flow out of you

– Passion trumps Powerpoint any day!

● If you have a heart for Open Source, share it

● In Open Source, participation is key

– Can be developer, user, writer, thinker, noise-maker...

– It is about people working with people for the good of people

– Stand up!

Thank you!

I appreciate your time and attention!Russell.Pavlicek@XenProject.org

Twitter: @RCPavlicek

Do me a favor and visit:http://www.XenProject.org/

And please remember my Xen Project Security talk tomorrow!

My Story: How We Got Here

● Observations from my personal perspective

One Geek's Open Source Journey

● 1995: Linux meets a simple need for me – and changes everything!

● 1997: My first conference – 1997 Atlanta Linux Showcase

● 1999: Big time at LinuxWorld Conference and Expo

● -2002: The suits take over the party

● 2004: Working for a start-up which was a Open Source consumer

● 2009: Purgatory

● 2013: Redemption: The Xen Project

– The key question arises: In an era when many people are paid to work with Open Source, has the heart of the movement been lost?

The Beginning: A Unix-like OS

● 1995: Linux was the answer to my need for Unix training

– I was a Linux advocate before I ever used the software (somewhat prophetically)

– Using it to solve problems brought about my epiphany

● Everyone knew PCs sucked– They could do one thing at a time, and do it badly

● But then I used Linux and it made the PC behave like a “real” operating system

● Epiphany: PCs suck only because the software sucks!● 1997: Open Source became my passion

– See the Atlanta Linux Showcase slide

Transition: Legitimacy ...and Suits

● 1999: The first IT Analysts see FOSS in the datacenter's future

– Until this, FOSS was seen as “fringe” with no Enterprise future

– A huge breakthrough in the struggle for legitimacy

– FOSS shows sprout everywhere; LinuxWorld Conference and Expo becomes the mindshare leader

● ~2002: Suits begin to take center stage

– It's all about business, “booth babes”, and swag

– Suddenly, we are guests at our own party... and we don't know the hosts

And Then The Darkness...

● Like many in the movement, I signed on to a startup company working with Open Source

– But it didn't produce Open Source (despite efforts to the contrary)

– My participation in the community eventually dried up

● After the 2008 banking crisis, the company's runway shrank from 11.5 months to 3 weeks

– Assets, including “human-compatible liveware,” (to borrow a phrase from Dilbert) sold to an old-school software company

● A place where FOSS was feared and loathed

The Light Once Again Dawns...

● 2013: Xen Project Evangelist

– The job I had been searching for over a decade

– Citrix pays the bills, but my goals are all Xen Project

– Xen Project is the premier FOSS hypervisor

● Used by Amazon, Rackspace (public cloud), Verizon, ...● 10th anniversary last year● One year ago, Xen Project became a Linux Foundation

Collaborative Project

But FOSS World Has Changed!

● Attending the event where Xen Project officially became a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project in April 2013:

– The majority of attendees had the “brass ring”: their day jobs involved Open Source

– People were often identified by the company they worked for

– Much fewer were working nights and weekends on Open Source

– Many of my cohorts from 10-15 years ago were noticeably absent

● There's a new crowd taking center stage● And there's a need to educate them by telling our own Open

Source stories