An open-source evangelist is a person who promotes open-source software. In some cases, this may be in opposition to commercial software. Open source software refers to computer software available with its source code and under an open source license. ... Commercial software is computer software sold for profit; such software represented, until the 2000s, the vast majority of all software used. ...

Leading open-source evangelists include Brian Behlendorf, Tim O'Reilly, Eric Raymond, Linus Torvalds, Mitch Kapor and Paul Vixie. Others that advocate the related free software movement include Richard Stallman, Alan Cox, Jimbo Wales and Eben Moglen. Bruce Perens is a prominent figure that works to promote both terms. Evangelism is the proclaiming of the Christian Gospel. ... Brian Behlendorf (Born March 30, 1973) is one of the most respected leaders of the international open-source software movement. ... Wil Wheaton meets Tim OReilly at the 2003 book-signing of Dancing Barefoot at Powells in Portland, Oregon Tim OReilly (born 1954, Cork, Ireland) is the founder of OReilly Media (formerly OReilly & Associates) and a booster of the free software and open source movements. ... Eric S. Raymond Eric Steven Raymond (born December 4, 1957) (often referred to by his initials, ESR) is the author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar and the present maintainer of the Jargon File (also known as The New Hackers Dictionary). Though the Jargon File established his original reputation... Linus Benedict Torvalds (born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish software engineer best known for initiating the development of Linux. ... Mitch Kapor Mitch Kapor (center) with Bill Gates and Fred Gibbons, during their time working on developing applications for the Apple Macintosh, 1984 Mitchell David Kapor (born 1950) is the founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3, the killer application often credited with making... Paul Vixie is the author of several RFCs and well known UNIX system programs, among them SENDS, proxynet, rtty and Vixie cron. ... This article is about Free Software as defined by the sociopolitical Free Software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. ... Richard Matthew Stallman (frequently abbreviated to RMS) (born March 16, 1953) is the founder of the free software movement, the GNU Project, and the Free Software Foundation. ... Alan Cox (born 1968) is a programmer heavily involved in the development of the Linux kernel since its early days (1991). ... Jimmy Wales in Paris, France Jimmy Donal Jimbo Wales (born August 7, 1966) is the co-founder of Wikipedia. ... Eben Moglen Eben Moglen is a professor of law and history of law at Columbia University, serves pro bono as General Counsel for the Free Software Foundation, and is the Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center. ... Bruce Perens is a prominent figure in the open source movement and to some extent in the free software movement. ...

See also

• Technical evangelist
• Open-source advocacy

A technical evangelist is a person who promotes the use of a particular product or technology through talks, articles, user demonstrations, recorded demonstrations, or the creation of sample projects. ...

External links

• Oracle names Open-Source Evangelist
• Open-Source Evangelist Will Work For Free Software, But Not For Free
• TrollTech: Open-Source Evangelist: Scott Collins