"There's also the matter of content. Content is now free, and we can invest in more free content, sure. But we need free content that has a business model built around it. That is something that more people should care about. If you believe open innovation is better, then we need more models."
"Education worries me with its fixation on 'content' rather than 'communities.' For example, everywhere I go, I hear university presidents say, 'Wait, education is going to be free?!' The fact that FOSS is free for downstream is great, but the upstream is really powerful. Distributing free courses is great, but we need communities to iterate and make it better. That is something that a lot of different people are doing, and Opensource.com is a place to share what is going on in this space. The question is not so much 'How do we take content?' as it is 'How do you build and distribute it? How do you make sure it is a living thing that gets better, and can morph for different areas?'"
"But the potential to change the world is limitless, and it's amazing how much progress we've already made. Six years ago we were obsessed about defining a mission statement. We started by saying, 'We are the leader,' but that was the wrong word, because it implied control. Active participant didn't quite get it either... [Máirín Duffy][43] came up with the word [catalyst][44]. And so, we became Red Hat, the company that creates environments to agitate action and catalyze direction.”
"Opensource.com is a catalyst in other areas, and that is what Opensource.com is about. I hope you see yourselves this way, too. The quality of content then, when we started, versus now, is incredible. You can see it getting better every quarter. Thank you for investing your time. Thank you for being catalysts. This is a chance for us all to make the world a better place. And I'd love to hear from you."
I stole a glimpse of everyone at the table: more than a few people had tears in their eyes.
Then, Whitehurst revisits the open education topic of conversation again. "Taking it to an extreme, let's say you have a course about the book [Ulysses][45]. Here, you can explore how to crowdsource a model and get people to work together within the course. Well, it's the same with a piece of code: people work together, and the code itself gets better over time."
At this point, I get to have my say. Words like fundamental and possibly irreconcilable came up when discussing the differences between FOSS and academic communities.
**Remy**: "Retraction is career death." Releasing data or code with your paper could be devastating if you make a mistake. School has always been about avoiding failure and divining 'right answers'. Copying is cheating. Wheels are recreated from scratch ritualistically. In FOSS, you work to fail fastest, but in academia, you invite invalidation."
**Nicole**: "There are a lot of egos in academia. You need a release manager."
**Marcus**: "To collaborate, you have to show the bits you don't understand, and that happens behind closed doors. The reward model is all about what you can take credit for. We need to change the reward model. Publish as much as you can. We release eventually, but we want to release early."
**Luis**: "Make teamwork and sharing a priority. And Red Hat can say that to them more."
**Jim**: "Is there an active role that companies can play in that?"
[Phil Shapiro][46]: "I'm interested in tipping points in FOSS. It drives me nuts that the Fed hasn't switched to [LibreOffice][47]. We're not spending tax dollars on software, and certainly shouldn't be spending on word processing or Microsoft Office."
**Jim**: "We have advocated for that. A lot. Can we do more? That's a valid question. Primarily, we've made progress in the places we have products. We have a solid franchise in government. We are larger per IT spend there than the private sector. Banks and telcos are further along than the government. We've done better in Europe, and I think they have less lobbying dollars at work there, than here. This next generation of computing is almost like a 'do-over'. We are making great progress elsewhere, but it is concerning."
Suddenly, the door to the room opened. Jim turned and nodded towards his executive assistant standing in the doorway; it was time for his next meeting. He uncrossed his legs, leaned forward, and stood. He thanked everyone again for their work and dedication, smiled, and was out the door... leaving us all a bit more inspired.
