Anyone who still thinks open source isn't ready for prime time hasn't been paying attention. Two events this week demonstrate how open source principles have put an entertainment juggernaut and a sports franchise at the top of their respective games.The first event was Joel Cohen's keynote remarks at the Red Hat Summit in Boston Thursday. Cohen is a writer on The Simpsons, Fox TV's long-running, irreverent, often brilliant, animated series. Among its many awards, the program has won a Peabody, 18 Emmys, and a Golden Globe nomination. It begins its 20th season this fall.

Cohen gave insight on how open source principals and collaboration have come to bear on the creative process at The Simpsons.

The Boston Celtics adopted the team-centric open source concept of "ubuntu" as their motto this season.
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The same open source spirit espoused by Cohen inside the Hynes Auditorium was evident nearly simultaneously, outside on the street. While Cohen was speaking to the Red Hat faithful, Boston Celtics fans were gathering behind police barricades to see the rolling victory rally of the new NBA champs.

As I wrote recently, the Boston Celtics adopted ubuntu as their (open source) battle cry early in the season.

"'Ubuntu,' from the African Bantu language, stresses collective success over individual achievement. ...Aware of all the attention their celebrity brings, [Celtics headliners] Garnett, Pierce, and Allen have gone out of their way to make sure the Celtics don't split into factions," wrote ESPN Magazine last fall.

Ubuntu inspired them to work collaboratively, as a team, and it carried them to a record 17th NBA championship.