View source for The Apache Software Foundation

{{Short description|Nonprofit open-source software community}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = The Apache Software Foundation
| logo                     = The ASF Logo (2025).svg
| logo_size                = 170
| mapframe                 = yes
| type                     = [[501(c)(3) organization]]
| focus                    = [[Open-source software]]
| headquarters             = 1000 N West Street, Suite 1200, [[Wilmington, Delaware]] 19801, [[United States]]
| method                   = [[Apache License]]
| revenue                  = {{increase}} $2.31 million<ref name="nonprofit-explorer">{{cite web|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/470825376|publisher=[[ProPublica]]|work=Nonprofit Explorer|access-date=January 19, 2024|title=Apache Software Foundation, Tax Filings – Nonprofit Explorer|date=December 20, 2024|archive-date=December 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241214142955/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/470825376|url-status=live}}</ref>
| revenue_year             = 2023
| expenses                 = {{increase}} $2.01 million<ref name="nonprofit-explorer">{{cite web|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/470825376|publisher=[[ProPublica]]|work=Nonprofit Explorer|access-date=January 19, 2024|title=Apache Software Foundation, Tax Filings – Nonprofit Explorer|date=December 20, 2024|archive-date=December 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241214142955/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/470825376|url-status=live}}</ref>
| expenses_year            = 2023
| website                  = {{URL|https://www.apache.org/|apache.org}}
| footnotes                = 
}}
'''The Apache Software Foundation''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|p|æ|tʃ|i}} {{respell|ə|PATCH|ee}}; '''ASF''') is an American [[nonprofit corporation]] (classified as a [[501(c)(3) organization]] in the United States) that supports 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.<ref name=incorporation>
{{cite web |first=Roy T. |last=Fielding |title=Certificate of Incorporation of the Apache Software Foundation |url=https://www.apache.org/foundation/records/certificate.html |access-date=May 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531160220/http://apache.org/foundation/records/certificate.html |archive-date=May 31, 2009 |url-status=live}}
</ref><ref name=effDate>{{cite web |first=Jim |last=Jagielski |title=The Apache Software Foundation Board of Directors Meeting Minutes 01 June 1999 |url=https://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/1999/board_minutes_1999_06_01.txt |access-date=May 26, 2009 |archive-date=October 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016173952/http://apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/1999/board_minutes_1999_06_01.txt |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of|2021|post=,}} it includes approximately 1000 members.<ref>{{cite web |title=ASF Committers by auth group |url=http://home.apache.org/committers-by-project.html#member |website=home.apache.org |date=2021-07-02 |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-date=July 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725195750/http://home.apache.org/committers-by-project.html#member |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Brett|date=10 June 2011|title=Statement on OpenOffice.org's move to Apache|url=https://www.fsf.org/news/openoffice-apache-libreoffice|website=[[Free Software Foundation]]|access-date=December 17, 2021|archive-date=June 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619044124/https://www.fsf.org/news/openoffice-apache-libreoffice|url-status=live}}</ref>  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.

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://apache.org/foundation/faq.html#why |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=apache.org |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623162757/https://apache.org/foundation/faq.html#why |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ASF also holds several [[Community Over Code]] conferences each year, highlighting Apache projects and related technology.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apachecon.com/ |title=apachecon.com |publisher=apachecon.com |access-date=June 26, 2014 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201114138/https://www.apachecon.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==History==
The history of the Apache Software Foundation is linked to the Apache HTTP Server, development beginning in February 1993. A group of eight developers started working on enhancing the [[NCSA HTTPd]] [[Daemon (computing)|daemon]]. They came to be known as the Apache Group. On March 25, 1999, the Apache Software Foundation was formed.<ref name=incorporation/> The first official meeting of the Apache Software Foundation was held on April 13, 1999.<ref name=":1" /> The initial members of the Apache Software Foundation consisted of the Apache Group: [[Brian Behlendorf]], [[Ken Coar]], Miguel Gonzales, Mark Cox, [[Lars Eilebrecht]], Ralf S. Engelschall, [[Roy Fielding|Roy T. Fielding]], Dean Gaudet, Ben Hyde, [[Jim Jagielski]], Alexei Kosut, Martin Kraemer, [[Ben Laurie]], Doug MacEachern, Aram Mirzadeh, [[Sameer Parekh]], Cliff Skolnick, Marc Slemko, William (Bill) Stoddard, Paul Sutton, [[Randy Terbush]] and [[Dirk-Willem van Gulik]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web|date=13 April 1999|title=The Apache Software Foundation: Board of Directors Meeting Minutes|url=https://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/1999/board_minutes_1999_04_13.txt|access-date=April 21, 2021|archive-date=August 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806105303/http://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/1999/board_minutes_1999_04_13.txt|url-status=live}}</ref> After a series of additional meetings to elect board members and resolve other legal matters regarding incorporation, the effective incorporation date of the Apache Software Foundation was set to June 1, 1999.<ref name=effDate/>

Co-founder [[Brian Behlendorf]] states how the [[Apache HTTP Server#Name|name 'Apache']] was chosen: "I suggested the name Apache partly because the web technologies at the time that were launching were being called cyber this or spider that or something on those themes and I was like we need something a little more interesting, a little more romantic, not to be a cultural appropriator or anything like that, I had just seen a documentary about [[Geronimo]] and the last days of a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe called the [[Apache|Apaches]] right, who succumbed to the invasion from the West, from the United States, and they were the last tribe to give up their territory and for me that almost romantically represented what I felt we were doing with this web-server project..."<ref>{{cite web|title=Trillions and Trillions Served|website=[[YouTube]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUt2nb0mgwg&t=249s|access-date=May 8, 2022|archive-date=May 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508210752/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUt2nb0mgwg&t=249s|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Projects==
{{See also|List of Apache Software Foundation projects}}
Apache divides its [[software development]] activities into separate semi-autonomous areas called "top-level projects" (formally known as a "Project Management Committee" in the bylaws<ref name=bylaws>
{{cite web |title=Bylaws of The Apache Software Foundation |url=https://www.apache.org/foundation/bylaws.html |publisher=Apache Software Foundation |access-date=August 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725012133/http://apache.org/foundation/bylaws.html |archive-date=July 25, 2011  |url-status=live}}
</ref>), some of which have a number of sub-projects. Unlike some other organizations that host [[Free and open-source software|FOSS]] projects, before a project is hosted at Apache it has to be licensed to the ASF with a grant or contributor agreement.<ref name=licenses>
{{cite web |title=Licenses |url=https://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas |publisher=Apache Software Foundation |access-date=August 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725011702/http://www.apache.org/licenses/ |archive-date=July 25, 2011  |url-status=live}}
</ref> In this way, the ASF gains the necessary intellectual property rights for the development and distribution of all its projects.<ref>{{cite book |last=St. Amant |first=Kirk |author2=Brian Still |title=Handbook of research on open source software: technological, economic, and social perspectives |publisher=Idea Group Inc (IGI) |year=2007 |pages=217–219 |isbn=978-1-59140-999-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75KT6GdcWbYC&q=%22apache+foundation%22&pg=PA218 |access-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-date=May 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531035524/https://books.google.com/books?id=75KT6GdcWbYC&q=%22apache+foundation%22&pg=PA218 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Board of directors==
The board of directors of The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is responsible for management and oversight of the business and affairs of the corporation in accordance with the Bylaws. This includes management of the corporate assets (funds, intellectual property, trademarks, and support equipment), appointment of a President and corporate officers managing the core operations of the ASF, and allocation of corporate resources for the benefit of Apache projects. Technical decision-making authority for every Apache project is assigned to their independent project management committee; the participants in each project provide direction, not the board.
The board is elected annually by the ASF membership.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apache Corporate Governance |publisher=Apache Software Foundation |url=https://www.apache.org/foundation/governance/meetings |year=2021 |access-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318095640/http://apache.org/foundation/governance/meetings |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since March 6, 2025, the board of directors has been:<ref>{{cite book |last=Weber |first=Steve |title=The success of open source |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/successofopensou00webe/page/187 187] |url=https://archive.org/details/successofopensou00webe |url-access=registration |quote=apache software foundation board of directors. |isbn=978-0-674-01292-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Board of Directors |publisher=Apache Software Foundation |year=2020 |url=https://www.apache.org/foundation/board/ |access-date=February 11, 2020 |archive-date=June 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616074241/https://www.apache.org/foundation/board/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=How the ASF works |publisher=Apache Software Foundation |year=2010 |url=https://www.apache.org/foundation/how-it-works.html#structure |access-date=April 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722185522/http://www.apache.org/foundation/how-it-works.html |archive-date=July 22, 2010  |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ASF History Project - Directors Timeline|url=https://apache.org/history/directors.html|access-date=2021-05-10|website=apache.org|archive-date=June 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616074252/https://www.apache.org/history/directors.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

* Rich Bowen
* Zili Chen
* Shane Curcuru
* [[Jim Jagielski]]
* Justin Mclean
* Jean-Baptiste Onofré
* [[Greg Stein]]
* Sander Striker
* Kanchana Welagedara

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

* [[List of Apache Software Foundation projects]]
* Apache Attic
* Apache Incubator
* [[Log4Shell]]
* [[Cloud_Native_Computing_Foundation|CNCF]]
* [[Linux Foundation]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''[[Wikinomics|Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything]]'' (2006); [[Don Tapscott]], [[Anthony D. Williams (author)|Anthony D. Williams]].

==External links==
{{Commons category|Apache Software Foundation}}
* {{Official website|https://www.apache.org/}}
* [http://www.apachecon.com ApacheCon website]
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkvqJaX4S50 Trillions and Trillions Served]" – Feature documentary by the Apache Software Foundation detailing its history and impact on the open-source software community (2020)

{{Apache Software Foundation}}
{{FOSS}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apache Software Foundation}}
[[Category:1999 establishments in Maryland]]
[[Category:501(c)(3) organizations]]
[[Category:Apache Software Foundation| ]]
[[Category:Free and open-source software organizations]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in Maryland]]
[[Category:Software companies established in 1999]]