Episode 9: The Trade-Offs of Using Open Source with Lou Huang

Episode Summary

The panel interviews Lou Huang, who has a background in
architecture and urban planning. Lou built an opensource app
called Streetmix and uses it to help the panel understand
opensource projects from a user's perspective. Lou starts by
sharing his background, how he got into opensource and his work
making Streetmix sustainable. 


 


Lou then explains that most Streetmix users are urban planners
and don’t care if it is opensource or not. The panel weighs the
trades offs of choosing an opensource project versus a
non-opensource project. 


 


Considering the benefits of using an opensource product, the
panel discusses the effect opensource has on developers learning
from opensource code. Convenience is mentioned and the panel
touches on how seeing the code can ensure that your information
stays private. 


 


The trade-offs of using opensource are discussed by the panel.
They also discuss how trade-offs are getting fewer. These
trade-offs include extra time and the risk of the project not
being maintainable. 


 


The panel discusses what the word sustainability means and Lou
references the Sustainability three-legged stool. The panel
considers the three legs of the stool, economic, social and
environmental.


 


How to raise awareness and funding for sustainable software. The
panel also discusses why and how non-technical users of
opensource products can contribute to sustaining software that
they love.
Panelists



Eric Berry




Richard Littauer


Guest



Lou Huang


Sponsors  



GitLab | Get 30% off tickets with the promo code:
DEVCHATCOMMIT




DevOps




DevEd




CacheFly


Links



https://www.codeforamerica.org/




http://saiko.fish 




https://streetmix.net/ 




https://louhuang.com/




https://biffud.com/




https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/1067682759592869889 




https://www.facebook.com/Sustain-Our-Software-SOS-857471391289849/




https://twitter.com/sos_opensource


Picks

Eric Berry:




https://theuserisdrunk.com 




Unblocked 




iPad Pro 




Richard Littauer:




https://www.sidetracked.com 




https://indefenseofdegrowth.com 




https://yellowlegalpads.com 




Lou Huang:




The economics of open source by C J Silverio | JSConf EU
2019 




https://www.thegreathack.com 




The Imposter's Handbook 


Special Guest: Lou Huang.