Unpacking the value of open source and code collaboration

Open source is now an essential part of 99% of the software we use everyday, and the developers that contribute to the open source ecosystem are more important than ever. As the global home to over 94 million developers, we’re deeply familiar with how open source and free collaboration power innovation and accelerate human progress. From lowering barriers and creating opportunities to securing the global software supply chain, the benefits of open source are abundant.

At the same time, increasing tech skepticism and nationalism pose unique threats to the health of the world’s open source ecosystem. That’s why it’s so important to communicate the benefits of open source to stakeholders that are less familiar with software development.

We’ve already discussed the need for metrics that point to the value of open source, but we also need ways to visualize that value. With that in mind, we’ve created two videos that bring to life the importance of open source and code collaboration on GitHub:.

We’re more excited than ever about what the future holds and the role open source will continue to play in solving critical societal challenges. We encourage you to share these videos when discussing the impact of open source and code collaboration, and we’re always looking for community feedback on the policy areas that impact developers and open source most. You can also visit our developer policy repository to contribute ideas on how we can best champion developers’ rights to innovation, collaboration, and equal opportunity, and follow along on Twitter at @GitHubPolicy.

Written by

Mike Linksvayer

@mlinksva

Head of Developer Policy