Politics & Power Quote by Brian Behlendorf

Behlendorf is describing a kind of politics that engineers love to pretend doesn’t exist: the work of making a technical project legible, attractive, and safe for strangers. In the Apache era, “good code” wasn’t enough. Open-source needed translators who could reassure corporations that collaboration wouldn’t turn into legal chaos, and convince individuals that their unpaid labor wasn’t just feeding a private moat. Calling it “politics” is a tell: he’s acknowledging that Apache’s success depends on coalition-building, narrative control, and trust, not merely commit access.

The repeated “why” functions like a mission statement for an ecosystem. It’s not aimed at skeptics of software quality; it’s aimed at skeptics of motives. “Why companies should be involved” gestures to a post-Netscape, early web-business moment when firms were curious but anxious: What’s the governance model? Who owns the IP? Will we be outmaneuvered by competitors? “Why individuals…” signals the other flank: developers who need more than ideology. They want proof that participation leads to dignity, influence, maybe employability - and not just extraction.

Subtextually, Behlendorf is outlining Apache’s real innovation: a social architecture (transparent process, meritocracy-as-brand, neutral foundation) that converts private self-interest into public infrastructure. The line is humble, almost managerial, but it’s also strategic. He’s staking the claim that open source is a diplomatic project. The product is software; the job is building belief.