Open Sources 2.0

Introduction

Chris DiBona, Danese Cooper, and Mark Stone

Midnight comes to the Nevada desert, and nothing is visible but a line of taillights ahead and a line of headlights behind.

“You’ll see the lights from Gerlach first, and then Black Rock City,” the driver says to the passenger. They drive another 20 minutes in silence before the highway crests a ridge line. On the horizon, the blackness is broken by a band of multicolored light.

“Is that Gerlach?” the passenger asks.

“No.” The driver points to a small, dim cluster of yellow lights in the middle distance. “That’s Gerlach. Way out there, those lights are Black Rock City. We’re still about an hour away.”

The passenger ponders this for a moment, then asks, “An hour? How big is it?”

“For one week each year, Black Rock City is the fourth largest city in Nevada. Population 30,000, give or take.”

Gerlach rolls by, with its one bar, one gas station, and one motel. The caravan of cars bunches up after Gerlach. Then they turn off the highway, rumbling over the packed mud playa of the Black Rock Desert. Lights, neon, and thousands of RVs spread out before them. Music and drums—especially drums—can be heard in the distance. At the gate they’re approached by someone who looks like a transplant from Mardi Gras: face paint, bright-colored suit, and a carnival hat. He checks their tickets and flashes them a big grin.

“Welcome to Burning Man!”

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When the original Open Sources was published in 1999, it served mainly as an affirmation that open source ...