Open Source CMS 2026

Open Source is free.

So why aren't you paying?

Brian Teeman · Open Source CMS 2026

Open Source is not free.

Someone Pays

Someone always pays.
Sometimes with money.
More often, with time.

The Invisible Workforce

The Invisible Workforce

  • Developers

  • Testers

  • Documentation

  • Translators

  • Support

  • Events

  • Infrastructure

  • Mentorship

What does Open Source cost?

What does Open Source cost?
Hours.

Thousands of them.

Twenty years ago...

The people who created the project didn't know who would eventually benefit from it. They couldn't know. They did it anyway.

And then you came along.

They never met you.

They don't know your name.

They don't know what you will build.

They don't know where you live.

Or what problem you will be trying to solve.

They do it anyway.

Twenty years ago, people contributed to a future they couldn't see.

Today, we are the future they couldn't see.

Now we have to decide whether we will do the same for people we will never meet.

Imagine that every volunteer stopped today.

No updates.

No documentation.

No events.

No community.

Open Source would still be free.

The code doesn't suddenly disappear. You can still download it. You can still install it. But a collection of files isn't the same thing as a project. The project is the people.

Open Source has created businesses.

Jobs. Careers. Friendships. Opportunities. Communities.

Open Source gave me...

What has Open Source given you?

You don't owe Open Source a debt.

You don't pay Open Source back.

You pay Open Source forward.

Someone did something for you. You do something for someone who comes after you. And they do something for someone after them. That's how open source survives.

What does paying it forward look like?

There isn't one correct contribution.

Maybe you write code.
Maybe you don't.

There isn't a hierarchy of contributions.

Code.

Documentation.

Translation.

Support.

Events.

Mentoring.

And yes. Money matters.

Companies make money using Open Source. Agencies make money using Open Source. People build careers using Open Source. There is nothing wrong with asking the people who make money from Open Source to put some money back into Open Source. But money is only one form of payment.

Sustainability is not a technology problem.

It's a people problem.

A family notices when someone is missing.

A family notices when someone doesn't turn up. They notice. They help. They participate.

A crowd assumes someone else will.

That's the danger. Not selfish people. Just lots of perfectly reasonable people all assuming that somebody else will do it.

Which are we?

Family? Or crowd?

Every generation shapes Open Source.

We are not simply users of Open Source. We are temporary custodians of it. What Open Source becomes next is determined by what we choose to do now.

Twenty years from now...

Will you pay it forward for someone else?

It was paid for by people you'll never meet.

It was paid for in different ways. Time. Effort. Care. Knowledge. Money. Community.

What will you pay forward?

Who will benefit from your contribution?

Someone paid it forward for you.

What can you make possible for somebody else?

Open Source CMS 2026 · Brian Teeman

PAY
IT
FORWARD

Open Source CMS 2026 · Brian Teeman

PAY
IT
FORWARD

Credits
No photographers were harmed
in the making of these slides.

No developers were forced
to pose for cheesy stock photos.

AI does have a use after all.

“Twenty years ago, they said Open Source wouldn’t last. The faces change, the technology changes, and Open Source evolves.

But one thing remains: Open Source is free, built by the people who use it, for the people who use it.

We’re here because people keep choosing to pay it forward.”

Brian Teeman, co-founder of Joomla!.