Why I Still Believe in Open Source (Even When It’s a Mess)

Open source isn’t perfect — but here’s why it’s still worth fighting for, and how we can build something better together.

Let’s be honest: open source can be chaotic. Documentation disappears. Maintainers vanish. Feature requests turn into emotional debates. And at least once a week, someone asks, “Why don’t you just use [insert shiny VC-funded SaaS] instead?”

But here I am, still believing. Still building. Still showing up to community calls and pull request threads. Why?

Because despite the mess, open source gives us something corporate platforms never can — ownership.

What Does That Mean, Really?

It means I’m not just clicking around a locked system. I can shape it. I can fix it. I can contribute back. There’s a kind of empowerment in that, especially for people and organizations who’ve been left out of digital transformation efforts.

I’ve seen federal teams, nonprofits, and local communities all benefit from tools they can actually own and understand. That’s powerful.

But It’s Not Just Idealism

Working in open source has taught me to:

• Think long-term. We’re not chasing VC funding, we’re building for stability.
• Build with others in mind. Community doesn’t mean everyone agrees — it means you design with other humans in the loop.
• Solve real problems. Not vanity metrics. Not made-up pain points. Real-world, budget-constrained, stakeholder-laden messes.

Where We Go From Here

If we want open source to thrive, we have to keep showing up — not just as coders, but as marketers, writers, testers, and organizers. We have to tell better stories. Make better docs. Welcome newcomers. Celebrate the small wins.

Open source is imperfect. So are we. But that’s the beauty of it. It’s built by humans, for humans — and that’s exactly why I believe in it.