This paper investigates the position of local open source communities (LOSCs) in the development of open source projects (OSPs). We have conducted an empirical study to examine the role of LOSCs, their way of working, and the benefits/challenges they experience compared to the overall global community. The qualitative investigation consisted of ten semi-structured interviews with members within different LOSCs. The results confirm the importance of LOSCs and the pivotal role they play in the development of OSPs. In many cases, they act as the middleman between individual members and the project’s global community. However, LOSCs have their own kinds of challenges.