In this episode of Open Source Ready, Mike McQuaid and John Britton, co-founders of Workbrew, share the origin story of their secure software delivery platform. The discussion begins with their deep roots in the open-source ecosystem—especially their long-time involvement in maintaining Homebrew, the widely adopted macOS package manager used by tens of millions of developers.

The conversation explores:

• Why Workbrew Exists: The motivation behind building Workbrew came from the realization that although Homebrew is beloved by developers, it was never built with organizational scale, security, or compliance in mind. Workbrew fills this gap by enabling enterprises to manage Homebrew deployments securely, at scale.
• Challenges in Enterprise Open Source: Mike and John detail the friction companies face when trying to operationalize open-source tooling across large, security-conscious environments. They share how Workbrew brings observability, policy enforcement, and zero-touch deployment to this ecosystem.
• Product Vision and Philosophy: The founders reflect on their product philosophy—ensuring that developers retain the flexibility and speed they love while giving IT, security, and compliance teams the control they require.
• Building a Business Around Open Source: The episode dives into the nuances of monetizing open-source infrastructure responsibly and sustainably, discussing how Workbrew creates value without compromising the open-source spirit of Homebrew.
• The Path Forward: They wrap up with their vision for the future of developer environments, aiming to make secure software delivery seamless for every team using Macs and open-source tools.

This episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at how two open-source veterans are transforming developer tooling into a secure, enterprise-grade platform—without losing sight of what developers love.