Having started on a very typical path for open source projects - needing to solve our own problems - we were struck by the challenge that our technology wouldn’t be sufficient for our eventual goal: improving the culture and process of scientific publishing. The challenge is not only technologically broad and complicated - but there are also enormous cultural and operational logistics needed to approach real solutions. Not least of which is the ability to provide resource-constrained, technologically-limited organizations with the stability and support they need to make commitments that will last years if not decades.
We’ll share our experience with PubPub and the Knowledge Futures Group (a non-profit organization dedicated to building digital infrastructure as a public utility), what it’s taught us about building sustainable open source products, and welcome contributions to make our work more supportive and inclusive of the entire knowledge community.