Open Matters Podcast

How Events Help Build Open Source Communities

Tue, 12 May 2026 11:48:21 +0000

Open source doesn’t grow through code alone — it also grows through communities. And communities are built when people meet, share ideas, and sometimes argue over coffee in conference hallways.

In this episode of Open Matters, Richard Brock speaks with Eirini Athanasopoulou from Nextcloud about the human side of open source: events, community, storytelling, and what it takes to bring distributed people together in real life.

Eirini shares her journey from literature and TEDx in Greece to organising international events at Nextcloud, including Enterprise Days, the Nextcloud Summit, and the Community Conference. We talk about why in-person events still matter, how open-source events differ from generic tech conferences, and why event management is “project management with a little bit of fun and magic.”

And yes — there is also a pizza disaster story.

🔔 Subscribe for more discussions on open-source tech! iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/open-matters-podcast/id1807042369 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4frqRzV9DsAC0HfJ3ewaeD RSS: https://www.collaboraonline.com/feed/mp3/

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Collabora Productivity or its affiliates. The content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered official guidance or fact-checked technical documentation.

00:00 Intro 03:48 From Greece to Berlin 04:39 From volunteering to work 06:18 What are the different Nextcloud events? 09:02 What about hybrid/online events? 10:25 What are the numbers? 13:40 Why should we come? 15:27 Any amusing stories? 16:58 What keeps you awake before an event? 19:17 What does Richard enjoy about events? 21:28 How do you measure success?

Germany's Digital Experiment - Can Governments Build Their Own Tech Stack?

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:56:28 +0000

Germany isn’t just talking about digital sovereignty — it’s building it.

🇩🇪 80,000+ users pilot scheme 🧩 8 vendors, one platform 🚀 Federal rollout coming in 2027

Inside ZenDiS and openDesk — and what it really takes to assemble a sovereign digital workplace with open source.

In this episode, Richard Brock is joined by Victor Moster (ZenDiS) and Thorsten Behrens (Collabora Productivity).

Customers Deserve a Choice: Cloud or On-Prem

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 16:00:45 +0000

In this episode of Open Matters, Richard Brock speaks with Johan Bernhardsson from Redpill Linpro, one of the Nordic region’s leading open-source consultancies. Johan shares what real-world migrations look like: from replacing aging NAS drives with Nextcloud to building GDPR-sensitive collaboration platforms, and helping organizations move at their own pace.

We discuss:

-Why “cloud-first” often means “no real choice” -How open-source migrations actually begin -Why user experience matters more than features -The growing demand for on-prem and sovereign deployments -And why digital change is still slow — but accelerating

If digital sovereignty is more than a slogan, this is what it looks like on the ground.

"If It Has a CPU, We Can Run It" - How Collabora Online Escaped the Browser

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 10:30:46 +0000

In this episode of Open Matters, Richard Brock speaks with Thorsten Behrens, Tor Lillqvist & Jan Holesovsky – the three principal engineers behind the new Collabora Office release, about what it really means to move a complex application from the browser to the desktop.

They explain how Collabora Online has been transformed into a native desktop app that runs entirely locally while preserving the same user interface and architecture, and why this approach is fundamentally different from simply wrapping a web app. The conversation explores the technical and conceptual challenges of cross-platform software, the limitations of browser environments, lessons learned from earlier mobile ports, and the importance of reusing a shared core across web, desktop, and mobile.

Along the way, the engineers reflect on portability, performance, security, and developer experience, revealing why building truly cross-platform software in many cases is difficult – and how they succeeded.

Subscribe for more discussions on open-source tech!
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/open-matters-podcast/id1807042369
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4frqRzV9DsAC0HfJ3ewaeD
RSS: https://www.collaboraonline.com/feed/mp3/

8.5% of Americans Self-Host — The Numbers (and Risks) We Didn’t Have Before

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 11:48:57 +0000

8.5% of the U.S. population self-hosts at least one internet-facing service — from websites and file storage to smart home tools and password syncing. But what motivates people to do it… and what risks come with it?

In this episode of Open Matters, Dr. Lea Gröber (ICSI Berkeley) joins us to unpack the latest research on self-hosting, digital sovereignty, and the real-world security challenges of running services from home. We also ask the uncomfortable question: are we romanticising “sovereignty” while ignoring security risks — and is self-hosting a bad idea for most people?

Open Source for Citizens: Denmark’s Bold Experiment

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 15:26:50 +0000

Denmark tried to legislate open source and Big Tech pushed back hard. Nearly 20 years later, open-source solutions are running citizen services in municipalities across the country and even powering the tax authority in Greenland.

In this episode, Magenta CEO Morten Kjærsgaard explains Denmark’s “first wave” and “second wave” of open-source adoption, and how open-source companies across Europe are now working together to build truly sovereign public-sector technology.

Why Pay for 'Free' Software?

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 10:15:57 +0000

Open source is “free”—so why do serious teams pay for it? In this episode, Eloy Crespo breaks down the real value behind paid open-source offerings: support, SLAs, performance, security, compliance, integrations, and long-term sustainability.

We cover:

“Free as in beer” vs. “free as in freedom”—what businesses actually buy
Why support, SLAs, and accountability matter at scale
Interoperability, open standards, and avoiding vendor lock-in
Real-world examples of starting “free” and moving to paid
How open source stays sustainable (and why it needs funding)

If you’ve ever asked or been asked “why pay for free software?”, this is your answer.

Why The Netherlands are Leading the Open Source Movement

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:40:05 +0000

“True digital sovereignty can only exist when you combine open source and open standards. Full stop.”

The Dutch are known for building dikes and canals — but these days they’re also building digital sovereignty. In this episode, we sit down with Fabrice Mous (Nextcloud) to explore why the Netherlands is becoming one of Europe’s open source hotspots. From national IT policy shifts to real-world adoption in ministries and municipalities, this is a tour of how openness is reshaping government, collaboration, and trust.

Print Media vs. Open Source: Lessons in Survival and Sustainability

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 16:52:48 +0000

“Why would you spend £5 on a magazine when you can get that online for free?”

What does the decline of print journalism have to do with the future of open source software?

In this episode of Open Matters, we’re joined by Neil Mohr, former editor of Linux Format, to explore surprising parallels between the world of magazines and the challenges facing open source today.

We talk about:

How print journalism lost its business model to the internet — and what that might mean for open source.
Paywalls, ad blockers, affiliate marketing, and the rise of AI “schlop.”
Digital sovereignty, open standards like ODF, and why governments are waking up to the value of open infrastructure.
Why thriving ecosystems (companies, communities, and contributors) matter more than single-country strategies.

If you care about the future of open source, journalism, or how we sustain the digital commons, this conversation is for you.

Digital Sovereignty or Digital Colony? A Wake-Up Call for Europe

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 13:54:59 +0000

“Without radical measures to reduce dependency on digital monopolies, the digital future of Germany and Europe is lost.”
—Prof. Dr. Harald Wehnes

In this episode of Open Matters, we speak with Prof. Dr. Harald Wehnes, Chair of Computer Science at the University of Würzburg and spokesperson for the German Informatics Society’s Working Group on Digital Sovereignty.

Prof. Wehnes shares his perspective on:

What digital sovereignty actually means
Why he believes Europe is becoming a “digital colony”
The danger of “sovereignty washing” and surface-level fixes
What governments must do to protect public infrastructure, data, and trust

This is a no-holds-barred conversation on the digital crossroads facing Germany, the EU, and the world as a whole.

Are these warnings alarmist—or overdue? You decide.

What Makes Software Sovereign? (Hint: It's Not Where It's Made)

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 08:50:22 +0000

“Proprietary software can be just as big a liability to digital sovereignty when it’s produced in Germany as big tech from the US.”

Miriam Seyffarth from the Open Source Business Alliance joins us to make the case that true sovereignty isn’t about where software is ‘made’ – it’s about how it’s sourced, licensed, and maintained. From flawed procurement practices to the promise of Germany’s new digital ministry, this episode is a deep dive into what it takes to bring sovereignty to the public sector.

Miriam Seyffarth is the political communications lead at the Open Source Business Alliance. With a background in politics, diplomacy, and digital activism, Miriam shares her journey into the open source world and the realities of pushing for digital sovereignty in Germany and across the EU.

We explore:

Why open source procurement is broken – and how to fix it
The risk of “freeloaders” in public tenders
How lobbying reshaped the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act
Germany’s new Ministry for Digital Transformation
The vision for 100% public sector open source by 2035

Containers Explained: How Modern Software Sails!

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 09:30:00 +0000

Welcome to Open Matters, the podcast on open-source matters – because openness matters!

What do shipping containers have to do with software? A lot more than you’d think.

In this episode of Open Matters, we’re joined by Ash Nakashian—software engineer and long-time Collabora contributor—to explore containers in software architecture.
We unpack the shift from monolithic systems to containerized applications, why this change matters, and how it helps engineers build more resilient, scalable, and maintainable systems.

If you’ve ever wondered what Docker actually does—or just want to understand modern software infrastructure without getting lost in the jargon—this episode is for you!

Subscribe for more discussions on open-source tech!
RSS: https://www.collaboraonline.com/feed/mp3/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4frqRzV9DsAC0HfJ3ewaeD
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/open-matters-podcast/id1807042369

Cut Copy Chaos?

Mon, 05 May 2025 08:49:45 +0000

Welcome to Open Matters, the podcast on open-source matters – because openness matters!

Think copy and paste is simple? Think again. In this episode of Open Matters, we’re joined by Miklos Vajna—open-source veteran and Collabora Online engineer—to uncover the messy, fascinating world of clipboard behaviour in and out of browsers. From browser quirks to surprising security concerns, and why pasting from Google Sheets used to break your spreadsheets, we dive into what it takes to make Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V just work.

If you’ve ever copied a password, a table, or an emoji—this episode is for you.

What is a Document?

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 15:53:20 +0000

In our very first episode, we’re joined by Michael Meeks – Collabora Productivity CEO, and co-founder and former director of The Document Foundation as we crack open a seemingly simple question: What is a document? From the plain-text world of .TXT to the binary proprietary stronghold of .DOC, or the open, structured beauty of .XML, we explore how digital documents have evolved and why open standards are more important now than ever.

Welcome to Open Matters, the podcast on open-source matters – because being open matters!

In this episode, we cover:

How documents started and where they are today
Some of the differences between .TXT, .DOC, .RTF…
Why open formats like .ODT and .XML matter for the future of tech
What makes a document truly open Join us as we explore the past, present, and future of digital files!

Subscribe for more discussions on open-source tech!
RSS: https://www.collaboraonline.com/feed/…
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast…
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4frqRzV…