Open source culture is alive and well in Colorado, for a variety of reasons. Local collaboratives and associations are focused on moving open source issues forward and have the support of tech-savvy Colorado Congressmen and entrepreneurs. In addition to the organizational support, there are a variety of resources and a deep talent pool eager to progress the industry.
Here are some of the Colorado organizations that love open source and are helping to spread open source products and culture here and worldwide.
eIntero
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eIntero provides an online marketplace for software developers and those who have a product to develop to find one another. After 25 years in the enterprise software world, including co-founding two startups and working at six more, Managing Partner and CEO Anthony Palizzi wanted to create a way to bring open source developers together and provide work for them to do. “We wanted to provide a way for them to connect, communicate, and do what they do best – solve problems.”
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OpenLogic
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Where eIntero provides a flexible way to access agile development teams on demand, OpenLogic was created to bring more formality, structure, and predictability to open source as applied in the enterprise software realm. Founded by Rod Cope in 1998, OpenLogic was acquired in August by Rogue Wave Software, which appointed Cope its CTO.
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Open Tech Collaborative
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Open Tech Collaborative (OTC) is a cooperative company about a year old that develops open source commercial products and provides public education programs. The group’s technology is developed under open licenses, and it encourages people around the world to build and modify it, and start their own local businesses. “Working outside of the normal patent system invites the growth of global networks of people with diverse skills who work together to co-create solutions to their common problems,” said Co-Founder and Project Manager Aaron Makaruk. To that end, the organization has launched some initial projects that have garnered significant interest.
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Open Source Hardware Association
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The Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) started in New York City in 2012. It is now based in Boulder, thanks to Executive Director Alicia Gibb’s relocation to Colorado when a long-distance relationship with SparkFun Founder and CEO Nathan Seidle became a marriage. “SparkFun, at 11 years old, is longest-running open source hardware company, and is the largest, in terms of employees and revenue,” she notes.
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Other local organizations that love open source include Loveland’s Aleph Objects, creators of the LulzBot 3D printer; Modular Robotics, which is working to create an open source manufacturing line for its Cubelets product line; Ombud, which takes a new approach to the traditional IT research process; and ShipCompliant, which processes direct shipments for more than 2,000 wine brands across the U.S.
