Josh Triplett: Free Software Optimist

by Deb Nicholson on December 18, 2018

This is part of our ongoing series on generous matching donors. With roots in the Debian community and a contributor to a number of free software projects, Josh is a passionate software freedom advocate. Working at a large company involved in free software has brought Josh a deep understanding if the issues concerning the corporate use of open source. Josh and several other outstanding individuals are joining Private Internet Access and a big anonymous donor in offering $90K in matching funds to Conservancy for our continued work to provide both support for important free software and a clear voice in favor of community-driven licensing and governance practices.

Deb: What's the most exciting thing you've seen recently in free software?

The Rust project. It's the first language with a credible ability to replace C anywhere you can use C, while providing all the features of a modern programming language and many pioneering innovations not yet seen elsewhere. And it's the most welcoming and energizing community I've ever been part of; it's an absolute joy to work with Rust and help it grow. Rust gives me so much hope for the future of computing.

Deb: Do you have a favorite Conservancy project and/or one that is indispensable to your own work?

Conservancy is home to so many incredible projects that it's hard to choose. I love Reproducible Builds and Outreachy, and the ways in which they continue to change the world. Reproducible Builds represents one of those ideas where the goal seems obvious and yet the execution requires an incredible and pervasive effort across the industry, and the people working on it have done an amazing job. Outreachy brings so many people into computing, provides wonderful opportunities, and in the process helps show projects how to be more inclusive. And QEMU and Git are both incredibly useful for me.

Deb: What do you hope to see Conservancy accomplish in the next five years?

Josh: I'd encourage many more projects to make Conservancy their home. The best time to join a foundation is before you need one, and Conservancy is the best possible home for almost any Free Software project. Apart from that, I'd love to see Conservancy succeed in its ongoing GPL compliance efforts, as well as continuing its many behind-the-scenes efforts to improve industry practices around FOSS. And Conservancy serves as the shining example of principles and good stewardship among FOSS foundations. I've seen what Conservancy can do at their current size; I'd love to see what Conservancy could do with more resources.

Deb: Anything else you'd like to add?

I'm thrilled to be able to sponsor Conservancy with this donation matching campaign. Please consider becoming a Conservancy supporter.

Check if your employer offers donation matching as well, which can make your donation twice as effective. And if you can, use a bit of your social capital within your employer to get them to support the home of so many projects you and they depend on regularly.

And if you have a Free Software project with more than one maintainer, consider joining Conservancy.

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