SparkFun Electronics is a startup that utilized an early and heavy reliance on open source technology to grow rapidly with no outside investment. Now open source permeates the culture from software to operations to open hardware products, but sticking to open source while mitigating risk and pressing innovation has not been without its challenges.
Pastfinder is a prototype system developed by the software engineering class at Saint Joseph's College to keep track of a wide variety of geolocated historical assets. Based on Open Source tools, it was used to develop an online "virtual cemetery" which represents Independence Cemetery, a large pioneer graveyard in Jasper County, Indiana.