All internet infrastructure depends to a great degree on open source software, simply because this foundational layer must be, in the words of Doc Searls and David Weinberger, “NEA: No one owns it; Everyone can use it; Anyone can improve it.” But with SSI, open source plays an even more important role. To explain this, we have tapped Richard Esplin, who for eight years held roles in sales, marketing, and product management at Alfresco, the largest open source content management system (CMS) company (acquired in 2020 by Hyland Software), and more recently director of product management at Evernym.
In 1984, the technology journalist Steven Levy published his first major book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution [1]. Using the original meaning of the term hacker, he celebrated those pioneers in technology whose ingenuity and intellectual playfulness exemplified the positive impact of engineering. (As we explain in more detail in chapter 13, these hackers are offended when their label is applied to those who maliciously break into computer systems; hackers call them crackers [2].) At the conference to launch the book, the attendees debated the future of software technology. Stewart Brand is reported to have said the following [3]: