Open Source Success Requires More Than Good Intentions
For years, the open source community has been driven by a strong sense of mission and values—ideals like transparency, collaboration, and freedom. These “open source vibes” have often been framed as moral imperatives, with some advocates portraying open source as inherently superior to proprietary software. But the reality is more practical than philosophical: software, whether open or closed, is only as valuable as its ability to solve problems. Developers and customers aren’t buying into vibes—they’re looking for tools that work, scale, and deliver tangible results.
Redis CEO Rowan Trollope captured this sentiment well, noting that most developers aren’t fixated on license models. Instead, they ask, “Does this thing offer something unique and differentiated that I need in my application?” That pragmatic approach is especially relevant in today’s AI-driven landscape, where the open source versus closed source debate continues to evolve. Take Hugging Face, for instance. Often seen as the torchbearer for open source AI, it publicly champions open models—but even on its own site, it acknowledges the blurry line between what qualifies as truly open, especially when referencing models like Llama. Meanwhile, the most lucrative gains in AI are flowing to major cloud providers that prioritize utility over ideology.
This points to a larger trend: while open source still matters, it’s increasingly being measured not by principles, but by outcomes. A prime example is AWS, once criticized for taking more from open source than it gave. Under the leadership of David Nalley, AWS has shifted that perception, becoming more transparent and involved in projects like OpenSearch and Postgres. Rather than waving the open source flag for branding purposes, AWS focuses on making open tools more accessible and enterprise-ready. That customer-first mentality has yielded real business returns, demonstrating that open source contributions, when tied to user needs, can drive growth.
Another model of pragmatic open source advocacy is the Linux Foundation. Though backed by corporate funding—which might suggest a tendency to cater to donors—the Foundation has taken a principled but business-savvy stance. It champions uncompromising open source standards while aligning its mission with economic impact. Executive Director Jim Zemlin has emphasized the long-term financial value of open source to businesses, making a compelling case that contribution and consumption are not only ethically sound but also strategically smart. In contrast to more ideologically rigid organizations like the Free Software Foundation, the Linux Foundation’s approach helps open source thrive in the real world—not just in theory.