Dries Buytaert

Dries Buytaert (born 19 November 1978) is a Belgian open-source software programmer. He is the founder and lead developer of the Drupal content management system. He also serves as the CTO of Acquia.

As a long-time advocate for the open web, Buytaert has emphasized the need to preserve the internet as a public good, warning against growing consolidation by proprietary platforms. In his leadership role, he has drawn attention to the “maker/taker” imbalance in the open-source ecosystem—where a small group of contributors (makers) build and maintain critical software used by a much larger group of organizations (takers) who benefit without giving back. He has called for greater institutional responsibility, particularly from governments and large corporations, to ensure the sustainability of open digital infrastructure.