The Apache Software Foundation

 

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Frequently-Asked Questions

  1. What is the Apache Software Foundation?
  2. Why was the Apache Software Foundation created?
  3. Who are the members of the ASF?
  4. How do I join the ASF?
  5. Can companies join the ASF, or only individuals?
  6. What are the ASF projects?
  7. How does the ASF help its projects?
  8. How can I contribute to the ASF and its projects?
  9. How can I donate money to the ASF?
  10. Are donations to the ASF tax-deductible?
  11. I am considering starting an open-source software project, can you help?
  12. We are an active open-source software project with a synergistic relationship with Apache, can you help?

Answers

  1. What is the Apache Software Foundation?

    The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is a not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in Delaware, USA, in June of 1999. The ASF is a natural outgrowth of The Apache Group, a group of individuals that was initially formed in 1995 to develop the Apache HTTP Server.

    The Foundation is overseen by a board of directors, who are elected by the ASF membership on an annual basis according to the corporation's bylaws. The board appoints a set of officers to manage the day-to-day operations of the Foundation and oversee the ASF projects. Each project is managed by a self-selected team of technical experts who are active contributors to the project, according to whatever guidelines for collaborative development are best suited to that project.

  2. Why was the Apache Software Foundation created?

    The Foundation was formed primarily to

    1. provide a foundation for open, collaborative software development projects by supplying hardware, communication, and business infrastructure;
    2. create an independent legal entity to which companies and individuals can donate resources and be assured that those resources will be used for the public benefit;
    3. provide a means for individual volunteers to be sheltered from legal suits directed at the Foundation's projects; and,
    4. protect the 'Apache' brand, as applied to its software products, from being abused by other organizations.

  3. Who are the members of the ASF?

    The current list of ASF members may be found on the Web at <http://www.apache.org/foundation/members.html>.

  4. How do I join the ASF?

    The Apache Software Foundation is a meritocracy, which means that in order to become a member you must first be actively contributing to one or more of the Foundation's collaborative projects. New candidates for membership are nominated by an existing member and then put to vote; a majority of the existing membership must approve a candidate in order to the candidate to be accepted.

  5. Can companies join the ASF, or only individuals?

    This is an area the Foundation is currently studying. At the moment, only individuals may be members, but companies may be represented to ASF by individuals.

  6. What are the ASF projects?

    The current list of projects operating under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation can be found at <http://www.apache.org/foundation/projects.html>.

  7. How does the ASF help its projects?

    As a corporate entity, the Apache Software Foundation is able to be a party to contracts, such as for technical services or guarantee-bonds for conferences. It can also accept donations on behalf of its projects, clarifying the associated tax issues, and create additional self-funded services via community-building activities, such as Apache-related T-shirts and user conferences.

    In addition, the Foundation provides a framework for limiting the legal exposure of individual volunteers while they work on behalf of one of the ASF projects. In the past, these volunteers have been personally vulnerable to lawsuits, whether legitimate or frivolous, which impaired many activities that might have significantly improved contributions to the projects and benefited our users.

  8. How can I contribute to the ASF and its projects?

    As a volunteer-based organization, the Apache Software Foundation stands most in need of dedicated volunteers who can work on software, documentation, or administrative issues within each of the ASF projects, including the Foundation project itself. Other ways to contribute include providing services or equipment for use by the Foundation, or donating money to the Foundation.

    In terms of software developers, there is typically a large need for people willing to test the various pieces of software, in various environments, and to track, reproduce, and isolate problems reported by the user community. Speaking of which, we consider the reporting of problems to our tracking systems to be a valuable contribution as well. Directions for how you can contribute in these ways can be found in each of the project websites.

    Not a software developer? Don't worry, there are plenty of other ways you can contribute. Our customers, the users of our free software products, are part of the Apache community as well. Organizing local user groups, volunteering to work on user conferences, and helping less experienced users on the various on-line forums are all ways in which you can contribute to the ASF projects. Likewise, the Foundation project can often benefit from people with administrative experience or access to specialized communication facilities.

    If you wish to provide equipment for use by the Foundation, please contact us before attempting to send it "here" directly -- the nature of our virtual enterprise is such that the equipment and services used to support our projects are located all over the world.

  9. How can I donate money to the ASF?

    Individuals and companies can now donate funds to support the Foundation and its projects. You can do so by sending a check or money order, payable to "The Apache Software Foundation", directly to our Treasurer at 

         The Apache Software Foundation
     c/o Covalent Technologies, Inc.
     1200 'N' Street, Suite 112
     Lincoln, NE   68508
     USA
    Please include the name under which you wish the donation to be credited, either your own or the third-party if it is a gift on behalf of someone else, and an e-mail address to which we can acknowledge receipt. This information will not be used for any other purpose. We will send a physical receipt by normal mail for any donations of US$100 or more, provided you include a return address.

    We are currently working on a process for making donations easier through the use of a secure server for credit card transactions.

  10. Are donations to the ASF tax-deductible?

    The Apache Software Foundation is a private operating foundation that is not yet registered as a nonprofit or charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. This means that, for individuals within the U.S., donations to the ASF are not tax-deductible. However, donations can potentially be treated by companies as a business expense, as part of the cost of doing business, provided that the business benefits by the continued existence of one or more of the ASF projects. We are not accountants, so this should not be trusted as financial advice of any kind, but hopefully this description will be useful to those who advise you in these matters.

  11. I am considering starting an open-source software project, can you help?
  12. We are an active open-source software project with a synergistic relationship with Apache, can you help?

    The Apache Software Foundation will eventually spread its wings to encompass more collaborative, open-source software projects. However, at the present time we have our hands full setting up the relationships among our existing projects. If you send us a proposal for a new project, we will certainly read it, but we may not have time to consider adopting it as a new ASF project until we have the resources available.