I have the privilege of speaking this year at a few conferences, including the OSEHRA Open Source Summit in DC and OSBridge in Portland. It is clear that FOSS communities struggle with incorporating the vendors as full fledged and respected members of the community and, conversely, the vendors (sometimes) just don’t get how to balance making money by using the project and their obligation to contribute back in some substantial fashion. It’s not an easy problem to solve but some communities seem to do it better than others. Attached are my slides and notes for your perusal and amusement. Please feel free to comment, I’d love some feedback on my thoughts.
FOSS Vendor Ecosystem with Notes