HV Open's mission is to create a space for sharing about open technologies. Our world is complicated, and software and data science becomes a more important part of it every day. Open Technologies such as open source, open data, open hardware, and others are an important part of empowering users.

Open Technologies are also much better for learning. Being able to open the hood and see the insides of complex systems helps us understand more about the world.

HV Open started as the Mid Hudson Valley Linux Users Group (MHVLUG) in 2003, with our first meeting in March of that year. During the early years the focus was on connecting Linux users to each other.

In 2018, at the 15th Anniversary meeting the group was rebranded HV Open.