The Problem with Open Source and How to Fix It with Max Howell, Founder of Tea Protocol

Backstage at All Things Open 2024, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson talk with Max Howell, creator of Homebrew and founder of the Tea Protocol, about making open source sustainable. Max shares his journey from building Homebrew as a passion project to launching Tea Protocol, which uses token-based economics to support maintainers without compromising open source values. They explore challenges like corporate involvement, project monetization, and building resilient open source communities. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 02:20 - Max’s Open Source Journey 09:09 - The Problem with Open Source Sustainability 13:54 - Why Traditional Funding Models Fail 16:08 - Tea Protocol’s Economic Model 18:34 - What Happens Without Open Source? 20:59 - Sacrifices Open Source Maintainers Make 23:09 - Capturing Value in Open Source 25:10 - Advice for Aspiring Open Source Developers 27:36 - Where to Learn More Follow Max Howell on Social Media Twitter: https://x.com/mxcl Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mxcl/ Check out Tea Protocol: https://tea.xyz/ Sponsored by This Dot: thisdot.co