Highlighting the power of open source

10 years ago I started work on a project called go-micro. It was an open source Go framework for distributed systems development. Something that would enable the creation of microservices on the backend to be consumed through a singular API for the frontend. That project became very popular and through that popularity it enabled me to get a corporate sponsor, to have flexibility in my lifestyle and to raise funding that would enable me to build a team, work on products, pay my bills, help pay the bills of others through covid and keep them employed. It’s so interesting to see how something so little can have so much power. But that’s the power of open source.

You see even today after all of my pessimism for not being able to build a sustainable business out of that framework or a lasting product out of the funding, I can still understand how powerful and valuable open source is. Essentially it has the power to democratise so many things. But I think we forget that. I think it has the power to overthrow a lot of what we’re seeing in big tech. There’s so much wrong with what’s being created right now because it’s all about addiction, engagement, usury, profit and we have the ability to change that through open source. But it doesn’t work by creating some fragmented ecosystem. You have to really focus on one thing and put all your energy into that.

I always find myself conflicted at this point because I have a project which is called the reminder which provides a Quran app and API which I think is important and I think it’s important for people to read the Quran. But I also know that that alone is not going to pay people’s bills or fix markets or fix social platforms. You see, it’s whatever reading those words does to enable people to go do the important work with the right intention. It’s about using those words to empower people and to build societies that thrive in the right way. We have lost our way. Through open source we have the ability to fix a lot of that. I hope this project can be part of that.