DistroTube's Derek Taylor: From Side Project to Full-Time Creator

Um, so let's talk about YouTube and open source.

So you're an open source advocate.

Um, YouTube is not an open source platform.

So is, so do you have any thoughts about that? Is that a problem with you? It clearly not.

Um, and you are putting your content in other places and just didn't have any thoughts about, is that a contradiction at all?

It's a contradiction, but also you have to understand one of the problems I always have with Richard Stallman, who founded the free software movement.

He is one of these staunch free software people because he founded the movement.

He has no choice but to be a complete free software purist.

So like if you met him at a conference and recorded an interview with him.

Before you'd sit down and interview him, he's going to demand that you do not put that on YouTube or Facebook.

It's got to be a free platform.

Otherwise, he's not going to do the interview.

I think that is not the best way to go about things because if you're trying to convince people that free and open source software is a good thing, Well, where are you going to get the most eyeballs on that kind of content? On those proprietary platforms like a YouTube or Facebook or Twitter, you know.

So you got to put the content there.

Yeah, I could do nothing but put content on free platforms like Odyssey or host my own PeerTube instance or something like that.

Great.

Everybody there already knows about free and open source software.

Yeah.

I'm not reaching anybody that hasn't heard that message.

So I'd be preaching to the choir.

So that's my thinking on that.

Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about your community.

I feel like there's a strong community behind DistroTube.

What does that community look like today?

It's a special community, let me just say.