The community surrounding Opensource.com is hard at work on something entirely new. Visitors to the platform may have noticed that things have been uncharacteristically quiet lately. That temporary quiet is due to a new project currently in the works behind the scenes. While organizers note that there are not yet many specific details to announce to the public, there is already plenty of broader context and philosophy to talk about. And what better way to start a conversation about a collaborative, community-focused initiative than by looking at the very fabric of the internet itself?
The internet, and top-level domains
To understand where a community project might go, it helps to examine where the digital world came from. Many people already know that the internet is, fundamentally, a network. By definition, a network is simply a group of connections linked together. In fact, the term "internet" is a portmanteau derived from "interconnected" and "network."
Historically speaking, the internet began as a network of interconnected networks consisting originally of two primary pillars: the military network and the academic network. These early iterations served specialized groups with precise communication needs. However, once the internet expanded in popularity and utility far beyond those initial two groups, it quickly became apparent that different designations were desperately needed. A system had to be created to differentiate, for example, a commercial entity from a charitable organization, a university, or a governmental department.
These distinct designations eventually came to be known as top-level domains, commonly abbreviated as TLDs. Today, there is a vast and sometimes overwhelming array of TLDs available for domain registration, ranging from industry-specific tags to geographic indicators. However, for a long time, there were only a handful of these markers.
Those original TLDs remain remarkably popular and culturally embedded in the architecture of the web. Most internet users know instinctively that when they navigate to a ".com" address, they are typically visiting a commercial site. Conversely, when a user visits a ".org" address, they understand they are navigating to a non-profit website or an organization dedicated to a public service mission. These extensions were designed to signal intent, governance, and organizational structure at a glance.
Open source is a network
Just as the internet relies on infrastructure and connection, open source can be many different things depending on its application and participants. Open source initiatives can be commercial in nature, driving enterprise software and modern cloud infrastructure. They can be non-profit organizations dedicated to public welfare, digital rights, or open data. They can be academic endeavors born out of university research laboratories, or they can be deeply cultural movements shaping how society interacts with technology.
No matter what specific form open source takes, however, it is always a network. Sometimes that network consists of physical computers, servers, and repositories sharing code across the globe. But most importantly, and most fundamentally, it is a network of people.
Whether people are gathering in person at a massive international technology conference, catching up over drinks at a local pub, or collaborating asynchronously in an online chat room, open source is, at its core, a community of human beings working toward shared goals.
For the past twelve years, the website Opensource.com has been supported and sustained by a commercial entity. Corporate backing has provided resources, stability, and a platform for a wide array of voices to be heard across the technology sector. Yet, the people who actually make up the beating heart of the Opensource.com community—the writers, editors, advocates, contributors, and readers—are not commercial entities. They are simply people.
The upcoming transition aims to realign this dynamic, addressing the structural gap between corporate backing and community identity. In one month, Opensource.com is going to resolve that long-standing bug and step into its next chapter. Stay tuned for further developments.
