Mike Linksvayer

Mike Linksvayer is the Vice President of Developer Policy at GitHub, a position he has held since October 2015. In this role, he focuses on advocating for developers and addressing public policy issues that impact the developer community globally.134

Background and Career

Linksvayer is recognized as a technology entrepreneur and activist, notably co-founding Bitzi, a company known for its development of magnet links, and serving as Chief Technical Officer and later Vice President at Creative Commons. His tenure at Creative Commons began in 2003, where he contributed significantly to promoting open access to knowledge and culture.12

He holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has extensive experience in various roles including software development, management, and policy advocacy. Linksvayer's work has included encouraging public institutions like NASA to utilize public APIs for data sharing and promoting the use of Creative Commons licenses among scientists.13

Contributions and Publications

Linksvayer is also an active writer and speaker on topics related to open source software, intellectual freedom, and commons advocacy. He has contributed to several publications and whitepapers addressing these themes, including works on data sharing and community building.15

Overall, Mike Linksvayer's career is marked by his commitment to fostering a collaborative environment for developers while navigating the complexities of technology policy.