Topic: OpenSource.com Presenter: Ruth Suehle When: Thursday, May 10, 7pm Where: Red Hat HQ, NCSU Centennial Campus, 1801 Varsity Dr, Raleigh, NC Map: Google Maps Video Recording: 10 May 2012 TriLUG Meeting - OpenSource.com

"Open source" isn't just about code anymore. It's a successful business model for selling that software — Red Hat recently became the first billion-dollar open source company. Then other businesses took notice and adopted openness principles. Now we see openness in education. In governments and laws. The principles of open source are changing everything about our lives — principles that you use in software development every day.

At opensource.com, we explore all of that. We examine what happens when those principles — openness, transparency, collaboration, rapid prototyping, community — are applied to the world. We’ve found hundreds of stories of how openness has solved problems. Changed the way our children learn. Increased governmental transparency. Created collaboration in business. Helped save lives in times of crisis. "Open source" now defines a culture — a culture that’s changing the world.

But to help spread openness, you have to be able to talk about it in a way that keeps people from immediately thinking it's all about software. I'll tell you how to use pop culture — from Iron Man to The Hunger Games, World of Goo to Star Trek — to explain these principles and how you can apply them beyond the code.

Ruth Suehle is a writer and editor in Brand Communications + Design at Red Hat, Fedora contributor, and moderator of the opensource.com Life channel. She's a maker at heart who is often behind a sewing machine, rolling fondant, or looking for the next DIY project. You can find her on Twitter and identi.ca as @suehle.