OpenStack Foundation Joins Open Source Initiative as Affiliate Member

PALO ALTO, Calif. - June 26, 2019 - PRLog -- The Open Source Initiative ® (OSI), steward of the Open Source Definition and internationally recognized body for approving Open Source Software licenses, today announces the affiliate membership of The OpenStack Foundation (OSF).

Since 2012, the OSF has been the home for the OpenStack cloud software project, working to promote the global development, distribution and adoption of open infrastructure. Today, with five active projects and more than 100,000 community members from 187 countries, the OSF is recognized across industries as both a leader in open source development and an exemplar in open source practices.

The affiliate membership provides both organizations a unique opportunity to work together to identify and share resources that foster community and facilitate collaboration to support the awareness and integration of open source technologies. While Open Source Software is now embraced and often touted by organizations large and small, for many just engaging with the community—and even some longtime participants—challenges remain. Community-based support and resources remain vital, ensuring those new to the ecosystem understand the norms and expectations, while those seeking to differentiate themselves remain authentically engaged. The combined efforts of the OSI and the OSF will compliment one another and contribute to these efforts.

"For more than 20 years, the Open Source Initiative has been instrumental to the success of open source through their tireless advocacy and education work, and as the steadfast guardian of the Open Source Definition: focused on user freedoms, evaluating new proposed software licenses against that definition, while discouraging further license proliferation," said OSF VP of Engineering, Thierry Carrez.

"The broad support of our work in promoting and protecting Open Source Software and the specific endorsement of the Open Source Definition is critical for not only the OSI as an organization, but also for the users, developers, and communities who rely on a common set of principles and a shared ethos," said OSI General Manager, Patrick Masson. "The OpenStack Foundation's decision to join now as an Affiliate Member, just as we are seeing some try to manipulate community norms, is extremely gratifying and makes a clear statement. We thank them for their voice."

"Over the past year, the definition of open source has been challenged, as some companies wanted to change the licensing of their software while continuing to reap the benefits of calling it open source, or at least the benefits of being potentially confused with open source, Carrez added. "That makes the work of the OSI more important than ever. The objectives of the OSI resonate with the work we do at the OSF. Today open source is necessary, but not sufficient: users of open-source licensed software are sometimes denied some of the original Free and Open Source Software benefits. Users should be able to tell the difference between a truly open collaboration guaranteeing all of open source benefits and single-vendor or open core projects."

The OSI Affiliate Member Program allows any non-profit organization, educational institution, user community, or government agency—unequivocally independent groups with a clear commitment to open source—to join the OSI in support of our mission to educate about and advocate for the benefits of Open Source Software and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open source community. The Affiliate Member Program was developed to extend the reach of both the OSI and each participating member through community, collaboration, and co-creation. The program provides a platform to identify, communicate, and address issues important to furthering open source awareness and adoption, whether those initiatives are begun by the Affiliate, the OSI, or emerge from the Open Source Software community.

About The OpenStack Foundation
The OpenStack Foundation (OSF) supports the development and adoption of open infrastructure globally, across a community of nearly 100,000 individuals in 190+ countries, by hosting open source projects and communities of practice, including datacenter cloud, edge computing, network functions virtualization (NFV), CI/CD and container infrastructure.To learn more about the OSF, visit: https://osf.dev

About The Open Source Initiative
Founded in 1998, the Open Source Initiative protects and promotes Open Source Software, development and communities, championing software freedom in society through education, collaboration, and infrastructure, stewarding the Open Source Definition, and preventing abuse of the ideals and ethos inherent to the open source movement. The OSI is a public charity with global vision based in California. For more information about the OSI, please see https://opensource.org.