How Can We Define the Value of Open Source Work?
summary
Compares concrete valuation methods: COCOMO applied to Kubernetes as a lines-of-code cost estimate, DORA-style release and recovery metrics for quality, and Debian popcon production vs underproduction to map usage against maintenance. Notes Google consumption of thousands of projects and recommends treating open source as a portfolio or using lines added and removed from pull request diffs instead of raw LOC. Mentions emerging tools like Scarf, privacy-aware telemetry patterns, and that ROI/TCO models break down without deep, project-level context.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Open source value discussion
- 4:13Why defining value is hard
- 12:20Software cost estimation models
- 20:05Social models for open source
- 23:57Economic models and limits
- 31:18Measuring adoption without telemetry
- 35:50Valuation challenges and approaches
- 39:01Q&A
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