Git is an epic example of a relatively recent extremely impactful open protocol. OpenGL is another I can think of. I'm sure there are many more. In my opinion

Git is an epic example of a relatively recent extremely impactful open protocol. OpenGL is another I can think of. I'm sure there are many more. In my opinion, we are in the golden age of open source, with the caveat that big companies have subverted it, realizing that open sourcing a popular project and controlling the repo is tantamount to controlling an ecosystem, forking is not an option in practice.