The Programming subreddit has a pointer to an interesting CNBC report on Open Source. The report is in the form of a video that is just shy of 14 minutes long so while it’s not a comprehensive survey, it’s more than the usual drive-by offering we’ve come to expect from the general press.
The main conclusion is that most of the world now depends on open source software. Even those building or selling proprietary software almost certainly have a large open source component in their products. They tell the story of the Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL and after explaining that it’s used by virtually all Websites note that it was maintained by just a handful of unpaid developers.
The unpaid developer angle is significant because although many companies have figured out how to monetize open source, most of the people doing the actual work are still unpaid. The report notes that the situation is improving because the industry has come to realize how much they depend of the open source developers and they are therefore devising ways to see that they are compensated.
One of the more interesting things I learned from the report is the “velocity” of changes to the Linux kernel. I’ll let you watch the video to find out what exactly that means but it is astounding.
The report is an intelligent and sympathetic look at the open source movement and definitely worth 14 minutes of your time.