MariaDB Foundation CEO Kaj Arnö on Open Source Sustainability and the Role of Foundations

In this episode of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast, Scarf CEO Avi Press and HOSS Matt Yonkovit are joined by Kaj Arnö, CEO of the MariaDB Foundation. They discuss the challenges of managing support expectations in open source projects, including balancing limited resources with important user requests, how non-profit organizations like the Wikimedia Foundation align with open-source goals, and why many organizations use open-source software but don’t support it financially.

Kaj also discusses the importance of community in open source sustainability and the need for companies to sponsor or promote the software they rely on. Then also delves into the systemic problems in the open source community, the business logic and ethics of open source, and the societal issues contributing to the lack of support.

Tune in to learn how you can help contribute to open source sustainability.

In this episode, Kaj shares some interesting takes aways, including:
* Users of open source software expect it to be open and free, but not necessarily supported
* Organizations that understand and prioritize open source often make reasonable requests for support
* Balancing limited resources with important user requests can be challenging in open source projects
* Non-profits like the Wikimedia Foundation are often aligned with open-source goals
* Many organizations use open-source software but don’t support it financially
* Open source sustainability is dependent on sponsoring and promoting the community
* Lack of support is a systemic problem in the open source community
* Separating business and open source entities can lead to success in open source projects
* Effective open source strategies involve balancing commercial goals and community values
* Indirect metrics like website traffic and brand recognition are used to measure adoption in open source projects.

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