Who we are

If Steve Ballmer got his wish and open source was wiped from the face of the planet, what would be the hideous consequences?

Jonni Bidwell

Well, we’d all be out of a job. But I don’t know if open source would really stay dead for very long. Sooner or later someone would feel like sharing – whether or not there would be an internet to share on is another question. Like shipping containers, network protocols work best when there are open standards.

Neil Bothwick

It wouldn’t be a problem. Just pull the previous version of Planet Earth from GitHub and fork it. That’s it. Nothing to see here. Move along now.

Sean Conway

If open source software was wiped from the face of the planet, I would have to find something else to play with sitting in my basement. Like a well in the desert to a thirsty wanderer, open source is a selection of cool drinks for the pilgrim. Without open source, your beverage of choice is lost and you have to settle for what is on tap.

Andrew Mallett

Quite simply, the world as we now it would end without open source. The City of London, the financial centre of the world, runs on it. And even taking the world’s finances out of the equation, how do we learn? How do we evolve? OSS is about sharing and evolution rather than only ever doing what you have always done.

Mayank Sharma

I can think of many implications (no Raspberry Pi, no Linux, no Apache, no world wide web) but the worst consequence for me personally (yes, I’m being selfish) would surely be that this fine publication wouldn’t exist and I’d probably end up as visiting faculty at the Silsbury Institute of Typewriter Maintenance.