Robots and open source will make most goods and services available for free or close to free. Or so are the predictions of authors like Kevin Kelly or Jeremy Rifkin. Why? Because once there is an open source alternative of equal quality, the proprietary solutions will make no sense to be used. So most entrepreneurs will eventually default to sharing …
How to create change when you have a big idea but no skills or time
It was 2006. A young brit named Jono Bacon had been running the LugRadio podcast, a show about Free Software and Linux with three of his friends. The show had attracted a more than decent following and had an active community forum going on. But the irony of the show about Free Software is that it was recorded with a …
The 2 reasons projects for good are failing to change the world
You want to start something that is purpose-driven in making the world a better place. To make a difference. To make an impact and help others. But it’s hard to get heard. If you’re trying to get through the noise created by the internet, you might have thought about releasing a project for free or open source so others can …
How Denmark turned its national companies to open source
In response to the increase in wages in Western countries that is driving the relocation of industrial activities to emerging countries, Denmark has launched the REMODEL programme to help its national companies create business models based on an open source logic. An experiment has been launched with ten Danish companies. Let’s see what has been the experience of these pioneers. …
Veja is suing Primark. To accelerate a regenerative world do this instead.
The creator of Veja, Sebastien Klopp, has announced that he will press legal action against Primark for copying the design of his best selling product, the Veja V 10 trainers. View this post on Instagram It’s not cool to copy. Period. “But knocking off sustainable brands is, I think, a special case. For not only are the copycats profiteering from …
6+ mainstream companies you wouldn’t suspect of open sourcing their ideas
When people hear that I help others get more power by giving up their ideas, they don’t understand or they don’t believe it at first, and next, they look at me suspiciously. Doing open source sounds stupid in the capitalist society we live in. Maybe developers and geeks can get away with it with their software or hardware. But that’s …
Could Open Source have saved Kodak?
Kodak. They were great with patents and very profitable photo films. But they invented digital cameras. And they hid their innovation because they made their photo films obsolete and unprofitable. Then came asian manufacturers who flooded the market with cheap digital cameras, destroying their margins. And eventually making them bankrupt. Cheap cameras, gopros, digital Canon’s, smartphones had all become the …
How the Repair Café started a global movement to slow down waste – and what we can learn from it
Almost ten years ago, a journalist called Martine Potsma decided to do something about the waste problems she saw around her, creating the first Repair Café. And this first Repair Café eventually grew from a one location event to a worldwide community far larger than the founder initially envisioned.. Today I’m going to share her story and how she inadvertently …
Everyone Working With Open Source and Communities Should Make Time To Read These 10 Classics
Looking for a good book about how you can work with communities? Here are some great books you should have on your shelf from people who’ve been involved in the creation and management of really powerful communities, which is something I deeply respect. Many of these books are available freely. I do have one request before you jump in: Even …
How Font Awesome became the most funded software project on Kickstarter
You might not have heard of Font Awesome, a font and icon toolkit made by Dave Gandy for use with Twitter Bootstrap, but you’ve probably seen their work everywhere on the Internet without even noticing. If you don’t know them, here are some incredible things they’ve achieved: Font Awesome has a 20% market share among those websites which use third-party …