Founders |
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Type | 501(c)(3) organization |
Focus | Open-source software |
Location |
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Method | Apache License |
Revenue (2020) | $2.10 million[1] |
Website | apache.org |
The Apache Software Foundation (/əˈpætʃi/ ə-PATCH-ee; ASF) is an American nonprofit corporation (classified as a 501(c)(3) organization in the United States) to support a number of open-source software projects. The ASF was formed from a group of developers of the Apache HTTP Server, and incorporated on March 25, 1999.[2][3] As of 2021,[update] it includes approximately 1000 members.[4]
The Apache Software Foundation is a decentralized open source community of developers. The software they produce is distributed under the terms of the Apache License, a permissive open-source license for free and open-source software (FOSS). The Apache projects are characterized by a collaborative, consensus-based development process and an open and pragmatic software license, which is to say that it allows developers, who receive the software freely, to redistribute it under non-free terms.[5] Each project is managed by a self-selected team of technical experts who are active contributors to the project. The ASF is a meritocracy, implying that membership of the foundation is granted only to volunteers who have actively contributed to Apache projects. The ASF is considered a second-generation open-source organization,[citation needed] in that commercial support is provided without the risk of platform lock-in.
Among the ASF's objectives are: to provide legal protection to volunteers working on Apache projects, and to prevent the "Apache" brand name from being used by other organizations without permission.[6]
The ASF also holds several ApacheCon conferences each year, highlighting Apache projects and related technology.[7]