The Stack Overflow Podcast Balancing business and open source in 2024
Dec 27, 2024
Kosuke Kawaguchi, creator of Jenkins, shares insights on transitioning from an open-source initiative to a successful business model. He discusses the challenges of balancing open source and commercial interests, particularly in monetizing enterprise versions. The conversation dives into how foundational organizations shape collaboration and the evolution of governance models. Kawaguchi also highlights the vital role of transparency in community-driven projects and the impact of large language models on the future of open-source development.
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React's Origin
- At Facebook, Jordan Walk conceived a better way of handling large applications, leading to React's creation.
- Tom Occhino's team developed and scaled React, growing the team to over 100 people.
React's Internal Struggle
- Initially, React was developed to simplify complex application management at Facebook by making components the focus.
- Open-sourcing React was contentious internally, with opposition from former Microsoft employees.
Vercel's Product Focus
- Vercel prioritizes product development over immediate profit, reinvesting earnings back into Next.js.
- They aim to simplify infrastructure provisioning for developers through framework-defined infrastructure.