David Mason :: @dcm

Having worked in the world of open source for the vast majority of my career, I am of the opinion that it is a way of approaching work and life as much as it is a legal construct. Since I first began using Linux in 1997, I have looked for new ways of promoting what I've learned about the collaborative nature of open source software to more people and other industries. This has most recently come into my life with my current job at New Kind, a consultancy made up of many former Red Hat folks trying to spread the things we learned from years of open source software development. We believe that the methodologies we learned can fundamentally change the way companies work, change cultures, and enhance relationships. This follows on from many years of devotion to those ideals.

• I was first introduced to the idea of open source in 1997 when exploring linux in hopes of learning more about UNIX systems after being introduced to them through GIS work in Denver CO.
• I quickly moved from there to working at Red Hat in the Advanced Development Labs - mostly working on the GNOME desktop
• I was a member of the GNOME Steering Committee where we set up the GNOME Foundation
• I was a member of the first GNOME Foundation board
• I became the Manager of OS Engineering and managed the development of the 7 and 8 series of Red Hat Linux
• I took part in the National Academy of Science's CTSB committee to explore open source in government
• I was a co-founder of Intrahealth Open Initiative - an initiative to spread open source ideals to non-profit public health work to support health workers in Africa and Latin America
• I was a Product Manager at Mozilla working on Jetpack, the next generation toolkit for creating add-ons for Firefox
• I then bacame the Platform Product Manager at Mozilla, working on the core technologies that were being rapidly enhanced to support the new Firefox OS mobile OS.
• I started working at New Kind as the Director of Community Dynamics helping people and companies grow communities that are engaged and collaborative. Working with companies like Ansible, NGINX, NASL soccer league, NC New Schools, and more.

I am gratefil that my interest in open source has given me experience in areas I didn't see myself entering into previously. Policy, legal issues, privacy issues, and politics have all entered the arc of learning that has followed me through my career in open source. I still see myself on that arc of learning when it comes to how open source affects us all. It would be my honor to help serve OSI as a board member so that I can bring my experience to help further the amazing work that has gotten us to this point.