Members Newsletter – May 2026

Dear OSI community,

As I write this, I’m starting my fourth week at the OSI. So far I’ve been balancing my time between staff briefings, sponsor and partner meetings, and coming up to speed on operations and our small-but-mighty team. I expect my listening tour will continue for a little while as I make the rounds to meet as many of our stakeholders as I can. If you’ve got something to say, grab a slot in my office hours. I’d love to hear from you.

Looking ahead, the OSI will have a significant presence at the UN Open Source Week from June 22-26. This will be my first community event as Executive Director, and a number of our staff and board members will be on the ground, both as participants and presenters. Look for a post-event report from us in June.

I’d like to extend my gratitude to outgoing Interim ED Deb Bryant, who did tremendous work leading the organization through transition and setting me up for success. I got to spend a few days in person with Deb in April, talking about current direction, future prospects, and OSI history. It’s been great to have her continued support while I find my footing. Thank you Deb.

Warm regards,

Duane O’Brien

Executive Director, OSI 

News from the OSI

Hello From The New Executive Director

A new chapter begins at the Open Source Initiative, and at a moment of rapid change in global tech, our new Executive Director shares his vision for what comes next and why the future of Open Source depends on all of us.

The 2026 State of Open Source Report

The 2026 State of Open Source Report points to open source as a strategic concern for IT leadership, shaped by geopolitical pressure, security risk, compliance complexity, and the growing operational burden of maintaining open source software at scale.

Maintainer Month 2026: Celebrating the People Who Keep Open Source Running

May is Maintainer Month once again, a time for the Open Source community to recognize, support, and celebrate the maintainers who keep critical digital infrastructure running.

OSI in the news

• Why age assurance laws matter for developers (GitHub Blog)
• Who Gets to Define Open Source AI? (GR-OSS Podcast)

Other news

News from OSI affiliates and community

• ASF: How Open Source Governs Itself: The Story Behind Apache STeVe v3
• Creative Commons: From Signals to Infrastructure: Strengthening the Commons for the AI Era
• Creative Commons: How can Equitable Access to Heritage Help Solve Global Challenges? An Exploratory Dialogue
• Digital Public Goods Alliance: Beyond Openness: Shaping a Responsible AI Future Through the UN Global Dialogue
• Eclipse Foundation: Keynote highlights at OCX26
• Free Software Foundation: You cannot use the GNU (A)GPL to take software freedom away
• Free Software Foundation Europe: FSFE: NHS England should not hide public code behind closed doors
• Linux Professional Institute: 2026 Open Source Professionals Job Survey (OSPJS) Report
• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla calls on UK policymakers to address the roots of online harm, not undermine the open web
• OpenForum Europe: Global Open Source Collaboration in Action
• Open Future: From disruptive innovation to infrastructure
• Open Knowledge Foundation: Introducing OKFN’s AI Learning Labs
• OpenSSF: Open Infrastructure Is Not Free, Part II: The Hidden Cost of Running Package Registries
• OWASP: OWASP Foundation Unveils Its Strategic Plan for a World Without Insecure Software
• Python Software Foundation: Strategic Planning at the PSF
• The Document Foundation: Twenty Years On, ODF Is Still the Only Open Standard for Office Documents, and the Only One Governments Can Trust

News from community members

• PHP: The PHP License, Simplified (Ben Ramsey)
• FFMPEG, VLC: FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet (Lex Fridman)

Events

Upcoming events

• Maintainer Month (May 1-30 – Online)
• Open Source Founders Summit (May 18-19 – Paris)
• Open Source Summit NA (May 18–20 – Minneapolis)
• OW2con (June 2–3 – Paris)
• Berlin Buzzwords (June 7-9 – Berlin)
• UN Open Source Week (June 22–26 – New York City)

Check the top 50+ Open Source conferences of 2026 that the OSI is tracking, including events that intersect with AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and policy.

Maintainer Month

The OSI is participating in a series of conversations and community events that highlight the evolving landscape of Open Source governance, policy, and sustainability:

• May 7: The State of Open Source in 2026
• May 18-19: Open Source Founders Summit
• May 22: Age Assurance Laws and Open Source
• May 30: NOSS (Nosso Open Source Summit)

CFPs

• FOSSY (August 6-9 – Vancouver)
• FrOSCon (August 15-16 – Sankt Augustin)
• Nerdearla (September 22–26 – Buenos Aires)
• IndiaFOSS (September 26-27 – Bengaluru)
• Open Source Summit EU (October 7-9 – Prague)
• Mozilla Festival (October 28-30 – Barcelona)
• SeaGL (November 6-7 – Seattle)
• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon (November 9-12 – Salt Lake City)
• SFSCON (November 13-14 – Bolzano)

Thanks to our sponsors

New sponsors and renewals

• Automattic
• See all sponsors

Interested in sponsoring, or partnering with, the OSI? Please see our Sponsorship Prospectus and our Annual Report. Please contact the OSI to find out more about how your company can promote open source development, communities and software.

Support OSI by becoming a full member

Hundreds of individuals and organizations worldwide join as members and support as donors or sponsors of the OSI. They trust in our neutral stewardship of open source licensing and our role in enabling a global community. Get involved!