Open-source software is a vital component of Bitcoin and therefore, it’s very important to us at Voltage as well. All of the members of our team are passionate about open source and usually contribute in one way or another. We make it a point to give back to open-source projects that we use in our business in any way we can. This is usually contributing code, contributing funding, or sometimes it’s as simple as helping others in community chats.
While giving back to the projects we utilize is critical, I started thinking there could be more we could do. Additionally, I saw a drive within everyone on the team to work on things that interested them personally. So we started a program we call FOSS Fridays.
Being open source means anyone can independently review the code. If it was closed source, nobody could verify the security. I think it's essential for a program of this nature to be open source.
Satoshi Nakamoto, 2009-12-12
What is it?
FOSS Fridays are something we do as a team every other Friday. The rules are simple, spend the day working on whatever open source project you want. We intentionally don’t have any criteria on what projects to work on. We want everyone to have the freedom to work on whatever interests them. There’s no requirement to work on something related to Voltage or Bitcoin. Team members can work independently or together with others. We really leave all the details up to the team.
Closer to the end of the day, we all get together and share what we’ve worked on. Each person gets the opportunity to tell the rest of the team what they accomplished and explain more about the projects. It’s been very fun to see what interests others on the team and what they can come up with in only a day’s work.
Going Forward
This has been a really fun way to give team members a break from their usual work. Additionally, it’s been great to carve out time to have the whole company focus on giving back to open source. As we continue this program we’ll be highlighting specific projects and sharing with the rest of the world what we’ve been working on. Watch for follow-up blogs highlighting the projects.
As always, come join our Discord to learn more about Voltage and how it can solve your own needs.
