When people think of an open source “contributor” they are likely picturing the developers who contribute code. But open source projects require a variety of contributions--from development to documentation to release management to marketing. The role of marketing in open source is critical but often overlooked and misunderstood. Marketing underpins the success of many open source communities, and when marketing strategy is executed proficiently, it enables these open source communities to thrive. Successful open source marketing builds a stronger ecosystem that bolsters the success of all involved, including project, vendors, and users. In this panel, open source marketing leaders will discuss the role of marketing, provide examples of open source projects powered by marketing, and offer insight into how marketing teams from both enterprises and open source projects can partner together to achieve greater results.
