Contribute: Beyond the Code

Rachel Roumeliotis

Contribute: Beyond the Code is a podcast about the people and systems behind open source: its communities, economics, governance, and long-term sustainability.

Episodes

  1. MAR 31

    Can Open Source Do for AI What It Did for Software?

    Open source gave us Linux, the cloud, and the foundation of modern software. Can it do the same for AI before the window closes? In this episode, Nithya Ruff, Linux Foundation board chair and one of open source's most influential voices, makes the case that the principles that made open source work for 30 years are exactly what AI governance needs right now. Transparency. Distributed power. Broad access. But time is running out. We cover:Why open source is cultural infrastructure, not just codeWhat "open" actually means when AI models have weights, data, and training algorithmWhy opacity is AI's biggest trust problem — and how openness fixes itThe sovereign AI tension: how do countries build AI that reflects their own languages and values without fragmenting the ecosystem?What contributing to open source means in 2026 — and why it was never just about the codeThe governance lessons from 30 years of open source that AI desperately needs Nithya on LinkedIn Articles mentioned in the episode Leading Tech Coalition Invests $12.5 Million Through OpenSSF and Alpha-Omega to Strengthen Open Source Security Ingress NGINX Retirement: What You Need to Know ShoutoutsShuah Khan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shuah-khan/Deb Nicholson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denicholson/Ruth Suehle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthsuehle/Dawn Foster: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnfoster/ Subscribe for more conversations about the human side of open source, AI, and the communities building both. Learn more about Punch Tape: https://www.punch-tape.com Get in touch: rachel@punch-tape.com #OpenSource #AIGovernance #OpenSourceAI #TechLeadership #ArtificialIntelligence

    28 min

About

Contribute: Beyond the Code is a podcast about the people and systems behind open source: its communities, economics, governance, and long-term sustainability.