Introducing Free as in Friday, a casual conversation about open source and more
Tags: opensource, development, techtalks, technology
Published: 2021-03-04 16:41:06

---
title: Introducing Free as in Friday, a casual conversation about open source and more
published: true
description: So Luis and Josh Simmons, Tidelift ecosystem strategy lead and current president of the Open Source Initiative (OSI),  just went ahead and hosted their very first Free as in Friday.
tags: opensource, development, techtalks, technology
//cover_image: https://direct_url_to_image.jpg
---

<p>Last week, I asked Tidelift co-founder and resident licensing guru Luis Villa when we can schedule his next <a href="https://tidelift.com/subscription/webinar/everything-you-never-wanted-to-know-about-open-source-licenses-and-were-too-bored-to-ask" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span>webinar</span></a>. He said, and I quote: “I had a thought last week that I can’t shake. <a href="https://speakeasyjs.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span>SpeakeasyJS</span></a> is a lifter’s Friday-afternoon chat series. And I’m sort of wondering if we should do that, as a lower-pressure, more conversational alternative to webcasts and podcasts.”</p>
<p>I said: “I love it.”</p>
<p>So Luis and Josh Simmons, Tidelift ecosystem strategy lead and current president of the Open Source Initiative (OSI),&nbsp; just went ahead and hosted their very first <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/tidelift/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span>Free as in Friday.</span></a> This first episode focused largely on the Open Source Initiative's upcoming board elections, so they invited special guest Deb Nicholson, General Manager at the OSI, and spent a casual hour discussing all things OSI and what exactly “open source” means today.</p>
<p>Here are a few highlights:</p>
<h2>“In a world where millions of people use open source, they have a lot of different definitions of ‘open source.’ How do you deal with that?”</h2>
[![What is the definition of open source?](http://img.youtube.com/vi/X62Xa6h7GOc/0.jpg)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X62Xa6h7GOc "What is the definition of open source?")
<h2>“OSI recently published a new mission statement. How does that impact strategy?”</h2>

[![OSI recently published a new mission statement. How does that impact strategy?](http://img.youtube.com/vi/rDOu-WG6BmY/0.jpg)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDOu-WG6BmY "OSI recently published a new mission statement. How does that impact strategy?")
<p>If you missed it, don’t worry! You can watch the full episode below. Join us live for another episode tomorrow, March 5 at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) on our <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/tidelift/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span>Twitch channel</span></a>.</p>
<p>We have a great lineup over the next few weeks, too:</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">March 12: Luis and Josh will be joined by Ashley Williams of the Rust Foundation</li>
</ul>
<p>And if you love traditional webinars as much as I do, don’t worry: Luis and Josh are hosting another AMA on March 31. You can register for that <a href="https://tidelift.com/subscription/webinar/open-source-licenses-ama-2" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span>here</span></a>.</p>
[![Free as in Friday: Open Source Initiative, featuring Deb Nicholson and Josh Simmons](https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/4008838/Screen%20Shot%202021-03-04%20at%2010.36.31%20AM.png)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTMBkPk5Y0g "Free as in Friday: Open Source Initiative, featuring Deb Nicholson and Josh Simmons")