The George Hacks Innovation Hackathon 2025 was an exciting sight to see. Organized by the George Hacks student organization, the event was a great success, featuring enthusiastic participation from hundreds of GW student attendees, gathered together to compete in coding challenges to win cash prizes.
The GW Open Source Program Office (OSPO) partnered with George Hacks to sponsor the hackathon. And we took an opportunity to deliver an introductory talk on open source software (embedded below) as part of the event program.
The talk provided the essence of open source principles and practices. We defined open source as software whose source code is freely available for anyone to view, modify, and distribute. A key takeaway was clarifying that open source is not synonymous with "free" software, highlighting the importance of access to the source code itself.
This access fosters a culture of transparency, collaboration, and innovation, enabling community-driven improvement and adaptation of software. We showcased popular examples of open source software, such as the Mozilla Firefox web browser, the Linux operating system, and the WordPress blogging platform, to illustrate the prevalence and impact of open source. We also introduced the use case of Facebook's open source React platform, as an example of a company successfully leveraging the benefits of crowdsourced developer labor without losing their competitive advantage.
Most of the talk focused on the benefits of engaging with open source. Contributing to open source projects can help individuals demonstrate their credibility and skills to potential employers, build professional networks, and connect with like-minded individuals. We highlighted the broader impact of open source in driving innovation, fostering global collaboration, promoting transparency and trust, and empowering individuals through accessible technology. We were also excited to award a $500 prize for creating Open Source Software (OSS) projects during the hackathon.
We gave practical advice on how to get started with version control, using tools like Git and platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and/or Bitbucket. We underscored the importance of choosing appropriate open source licenses, to define how software can be used, modified, and shared. And we encouraged attendees to adopt a "default to open" approach, advocating for the use of public repositories for saving work-in-progress, publishing finished work, and leveraging community contributions.
The GW OSPO is committed to fostering a culture of open collaboration at GW. Partnering with events like George Hacks 2025 allows us to connect with students, promote open source principles, and empower the next generation of innovators. We are eager for the amazing projects that emerge from the George Hacks 2025 participants, and encourage everyone to explore the world of open source!
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