In spite of Linux running on the platform for 25 years, the mainframe community is notoriously proprietary. Organizations operating on the platform are particularly security conscious and dependent upon vendors for support and fixes. Fortunately, in the past several years we’ve built a thriving open source community that subverts the status quo.
This talk will cover how a handful of open source conscious community members have built up a successful open source community around mainframe technology, and driven adoption across the industry. Strategies included launching the vendor-neutral Open Mainframe Project with support from the Linux Foundation, identifying tools that member organizations wanted to collaborate on, celebrating projects and community members, mentorship programs, and on-going education in the community to bust myths about open source software. Based on this experience, I've put together a checklist of strategies and key things to keep in mind when building out communities that are more resistant to open source, but which can greatly benefit from it.
The presentation will take place in Ballroom G on Saturday, March 7, 2026 - 12:30 to 13:30
