What is FairOSS?
FairOSS is a public benefit corporation with a mission to sustain the production and maintenance of freely shareable intellectual property. It is a community of those who produce open source and those who use and advocate for it. It is also a financial custodian for funding open source projects.
What is a public benefit corporation?
A public benefit corporation is similar to a normal corporation with the key difference affecting the motivations behind generating a profit for the company. Whereas a normal company focuses on maximizing shareholder value, a public benefit corporations can focus on producing value for society.
How does FairOSS help benefit the public?
For Producers
FairOSS provides a revenue stream that didn’t exist before. Right now contribution to open source is heavily dependent on donations, OS friendly company investment, and the personal motivations of its contributors. By giving projects the financial resources needed for maintenance and growth, more people will invest their time in open source and contribution will become sustainable.
For Consumers
By investing in open source, organizations help mitigate many of the current risks associated with adopting open source. Investing in FairOSS also distributes and stabilizes the long term economics of software development and quality assurance.
For Society
FairOSS facilitates the creation of a market that attracts talent and investment to open source. This means more jobs, lower product management and development costs, and a shared vision for open collaboration and community.
What is the role of FairOSS in open source?
First is the advocacy for fairness, equity, and sustainability in open source software and building of community alliances with our members, Groundwater participants, and partners.
Second is to design and build the infrastructure to be able to fund open source projects
Third is to become a leading open source data provider that can be used to monitor community health and promote open source contribution.
Why should people care about FairOSS?
Because there is a real imbalance between the value open source creates and the incentive for people to maintain or produce it. There are many reasons why this is important for producers and consumers.
Producers
For those who spend their time in the production of open source software, FairOSS is a way to have their investment in open source provide a long-term financial benefit and another way to get public recognition for their community work and enhance their professional reputation.
Consumers
For consumers of open source, supporting the FairOSS mission is an opportunity to be seen as socially responsible. For organizations this can have valuable marketing and recruiting impacts.
In addition, by participating in our Groundwater program, FairOSS affords organizations a single entry point for giving back to the projects they rely on. It’s a way to reduce long term cost, risk, and more importantly, participate in a global effort to sustain open source.
How does FairOSS provide funding to projects?
After receiving funding from organizations as part of the Groundwater program, we work with the individual open source projects to identify the method and target for the funds transfer. This will be done on a project by project basis.
How do I get involved?
Sign up for our free community membership and join in the open source dialogue with other members.
Consider becoming a charter member and becoming deeply involved in critical conversations and the future of FairOSS.
Advocate for us and our Groundwater program to your company and others.
What are FairOSS Charter Members?
FairOSS charter members are paying members of the FairOSS community that are directly involved in the planning and of execution of company programs. Charter members receive a trademark symbolizing their commitment and involvement in FairOSS.
Charter members will also be allowed to earn company equity as FairOSS grows. We want our community to be part of the company and benefit from it.