FLOSS Weekly was started by Leo Laporte, who runs the TWiT netcast network, and Chris DiBona, now the open source program manager at Google. FLOSS is an acronym for Free/Libre Open Source Software. The show was intended to be a weekly interview with the biggest names and influences in open source software. Episode one of FLOSS Weekly appeared on April 7, 2006. Towards the end of 2006, episodes began to appear less frequently, dropping to a monthly basis. DiBona's newborn baby and commitments at Google were cited as reasons for the show's stagnation, and on the seventeenth episode, Laporte appealed for other co-hosts to share the burden. This was DiBona's final appearance on the show as the host. He returned as a guest for the show's 100th episode. The show went on an unannounced three-month hiatus, re-appearing on July 21, 2007, with a new co-host, Randal Schwartz, who had previously appeared on the show as a guest. Schwartz has since taken over organizing guests for the show, and has restored the show to a predominantly weekly schedule. Starting with episode 69, Jono Bacon was a somewhat regular co-host, even filling in for Randal when Randal wasn't available. The show was nominated for the 2009 Podcast Awards in the Technology/Science category. In May 2010, the show began publishing a video feed, and moved to an earlier recording time. As a result of the new recording time, Leo Laporte stepped down as the lead host, and Jono Bacon could no longer regularly co-host. Randal Schwartz was and now Doc Searls is supported by a rotating panel of co-hosts, selected on the basis of availability and appropriateness for the guest. The list includes Guillermo Amaral, Gareth Greenaway, Dan Lynch, Aaron Newcomb, Jonathan Bennett and Simon Phipps and has previously included Joe Brockmeier and Randi Harper.
Format
Most episodes feature the primary developer or developers of a particular open source software project. The show is an open discussion, with the host and co-host asking questions about the nature of the project. Typically, the interviewers will ask the guests about the history of the project, and its development model. Some shows, such as the interviews with Jon "maddog" Hall and Simon Phipps, are not specific to an open source project, and feature more general topics, such as the philosophy of free and open-source software. Shows begin and end with a brief discussion between the hosts, before and after calling the guest. Often the guests are interviewed via Skype, with Laporte's staff at TWiT being responsible for the audio recording and production. FLOSS Weekly has been supported by advertising and donations. In October 2006, FLOSS Weekly had 31,661 downloads of episode 14.
