July 28th, 2008
The power of open source celebrity
Everything in open source has a business model.
Even celebrity.
Harold Welte did not seek celebrity. He is so retiring Google Images doesn’t even have a picture of him. (That’s why we have a picture of his OpenMoko software stack.)
Thanks to his work with GPL Violations, celebrity found Harold Welte anyway.
And now comes the reward. VIA Technologies, a Taiwanese chip maker, has made him its open source liaison.
The job, in part, involves him keeping on doing what he has been doing, applying open source and Linux to hardware designs. (He helped bring out OpenMoko back in 2006.) He will also help VIA work on drivers that are compliant with FOSS licenses.
The company’s vice president of corporate marketing calls this an “extremely important strategic position.” VIA is trading on Welte’s celebrity, his reputation, and his coding. It’s an opportunity he has earned and deserves. I believe he will make the most of it.
I can’t promise your own hard work on behalf of open source concepts will bring you your dream job.
But it can’t hurt.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Subscribe to Linux and Open Source via Email alerts or RSS.
