The community behind Opensource.com is hard at work on something new.
Visitors to Opensource.com may have noticed that it has been relatively quiet on the platform lately. That silence is not an accident; it is the result of a new project currently in the works behind the scenes. While there are not yet many specific details to announce regarding the exact nature of this upcoming venture, there is already plenty to talk about when considering the broader landscape of the internet and the open source movement. What better way to start exploring this next chapter than by looking at the entire internet itself?
The Internet, and Top-Level Domains
To understand where the community is heading, it helps to examine where the digital world began. Most people know that the internet is a network. By definition, a network is simply a group of connections. In fact, the term "internet" is a portmanteau of the words "interconnected" and "network." Originally, the internet consisted of just two primary networks: the military network and the academic network.
As the internet grew and gained popularity outside of those two initial groups, it quickly became apparent that different designations were necessary to differentiate various types of entities. For example, people needed a way to easily distinguish a commercial enterprise from a charitable organization, a university from a governmental department, or a personal project from a public institution.
These fundamental designations are known as top-level domains, or TLDs. While there are numerous domain extensions available across the modern web today, for a long time there were only a handful. The original TLDs remain exceptionally popular and form the bedrock of how users navigate the web. Most internet users instinctively know that when they visit a .com address, they are visiting a commercial site, whereas visiting a .org address typically points toward a non-profit organization. These extensions act as digital signposts, categorizing the intent and structure of the organizations behind the screens.
Open Source Is a Network
Just as the internet itself is built on interconnected networks, open source can be many things, yet it always functions as a network at its core. Open source initiatives can take commercial forms, non-profit forms, academic forms, or cultural forms. Regardless of the specific form it takes, open source is always a network of connections.
Sometimes, this is a literal network of computers sharing code, infrastructure, and distributed databases. More importantly, however, open source is a network of people. Whether individuals are gathering in person at a major technology conference, meeting up casually at a local pub, or collaborating remotely in an online chat room, open source is fundamentally a community of people working toward shared goals.
For the past 12 years, the website Opensource.com has been supported by a commercial entity. However, the individuals—representing the readers, contributors, and participants that make up the Opensource.com community—are not commercial entities themselves. They are simply people. They are human beings driven by a shared passion for collaboration, transparency, and the philosophy of sharing knowledge freely.
This distinction between corporate backing and community identity sits at the heart of the current transition. For years, the platform has served as a vital digital town square for stories about creating, adopting, and sharing open source solutions. Now, the community is preparing to address a fundamental mismatch between the corporate structure that has supported the site and the organic, people-powered network that drives it forward.
In exactly one month, Opensource.com is going to resolve that bug. Stay tuned for the full reveal as the next chapter of this community-driven journey unfolds.
Opensource.com publishes stories about creating, adopting, and sharing open source solutions. You can follow updates and community news on Twitter at @opensourceway.
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