The ubiquity, depth, and intersections of the open source software landscape inspire and frustrate, deliver and delay. We’ve come to rely on these projects to power the modern world. Our dependence is welcome, undeniable, amorphous, liberating, and under threat. It can feel intimidating and thankless. We need not buy into fatalistic perspectives of unsustainable outcomes. Where does one even begin?

Participation in open source as a movement takes all of us working in whatever capacity we can. Increasingly that capacity is strained and distracted. But this isn't a time for guilt—this is cause for celebration! I promise you, there are a lot of avenues to engage. It's the contributions, large and small, sustained and one-time, that add up to change.

You are participatory in the ecosystem, as a user. You are part of something larger than our current issue, project, role, or company. You don’t need permission to do your job; you have agency to act upon the full spectrum of engagement. Leave with firmer footing than ever that open source needs you, and that you are enough to sustain it.

Much of the world we live in is underpinned by the open source ecosystem. There's plenty of data to support this, from LF, from HBS, and beyond. Everyone is participatory, as users. A consumer, by definition, is exposed to the outside world of supply chains, vulnerability, and convenience. It's a nuanced dependency arrangement. Many that contribute, and those that wish they did, may find opportunity bias toward code. Are these two viewpoints, consumption and contribution, exclusive means to show up? No. This is a false narrative that furthers no growth nor sustains community. Worse, it creates an intimidating environment closed off from newcomers, learners, and casual contributors.

I propose a better way, one with intentionally designed avenues for contribution and collective grace in exploring those pathways. This perspective is rooted in reciprocity... between maintainer, contributor, and consumer...a mutual relationship more than a license and code. A full spectrum of engagement presents itself for those that attune their senses, and to those that design within it. We'll highlight the spectrum of engagement, contextualize it for all parties, and make the case that we all have a part to play to create inclusive community. We are all part of something larger, and open source software is a tangible manifestation of this theory.

I'll emphasize corporate technologists as the latent energy the movement needs, and equip them with tactics and air-cover to get off the ground.
Much, if not all of the tech at the conference will be underpinned by open source software. Attendees, their coworkers, and their employers, they are all the potential energy open source needs- what we need to do is ACTIVATE them.