Membership emphasizes growing outreach and engagement with broader software and technology communities.
OpenJS Foundation Joins Open Source Initiative as Newest Affiliate Member
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 11, 2020 — The Open Source Initiative® (OSI), the international authority in open source licensing, is excited to announce the affiliate membership of the OpenJS Foundation, the premier home for critical open source JavaScript projects, including Appium, Dojo, jQuery, Node.js, and webpack, and 30 more. The OpenJS membership with the OSI highlights the incredible impact of JavaScript across all industries, web technologies, communities, and, ultimately, the open source software movement.
“The OpenJS Foundation is thrilled to join OSI as an Affiliate Member and we’re proud to have Myles Borins represent our JavaScript communities, ” said Robin Ginn, OpenJS Foundation Executive Director. “In addition to all of our projects using OSI-approved licenses, our neutral organization shares common principles with the OSI, including technical governance and accountability. As an Affiliate Member, we can better advance open source development methodologies for individual open source projects and the ecosystem as a whole.”
Formed through a merger of the JS Foundation and Node.js Foundation in 2019, the OpenJS Foundation supports the healthy growth of JavaScript and web technologies by providing a neutral organization to host and sustain projects, as well as collaboratively fund activities that benefit the ecosystem as a whole. Originally developed in 1995, JavaScript is now arguably the most widely used programming language, with Github reporting it as the “Top Language” from 2014 through 2019 in their State of the Octoverse report. Javascript’s growth and popularity can be attributed to its accessibility, often identified as a language for new developers, and its applicability, a core component of today’s web-driven technology landscape. JavaScript also serves as a conduit to, and proof of concept for, open source software development, projects, and communities. For some, JavaScript provides their first experience in open source development and communities, and for others, their experience in JavaScript projects and communities are helping to lead and further refine the larger open source movement itself.
The OpenJS Foundation serves as a valuable resource for both new JavaScript developers and emerging projects–offering a foundation for support and growth–as well as veterans with broad experience with mature projects–providing a platform to extend best practices and guiding principles out to the broader open source software community.
Working with the OpenJS Foundation provides the Open Source Initiative a unique opportunity to engage with one of the open source software movement’s largest and most influential communities. JavaScript developers and projects are deeply committed to open source as a development model and its ethos of co-creation through collaboration and contribution, making OpenJS Foundations affiliate membership and the community they represent a critical partnership for not only open source’s continued growth and development but the OSI as well.
“We are thrilled to welcome aboard OpenJS as an OSI Affiliate Member, ” said Tracy Hinds, Chief Financial Officer of OSI. “It is a time in open source where it’s vital to learn from and be challenged by the growing concerns about sustainability. We look to OpenJS as a great partner in iterating over the questions to be asking in how projects are building, maintaining, and sustaining open source software.”
The OSI Affiliate Member Program, available at no-cost, allows non-profit organizations to join and support the OSI’s work to promote and protect open source software. Affiliate members participate directly in the direction and development of the OSI through board elections and incubator projects that support software freedom. Membership provides a forum where open source leaders, businesses, and communities engage through member-driven initiatives to increase awareness and adoption of open source software.
About OpenJS Foundation
The OpenJS Foundation (https://openjsf.org/) is committed to supporting the healthy growth of the JavaScript ecosystem and web technologies by providing a neutral organization to host and sustain projects, as well as collaboratively fund activities for the benefit of the community at large. The OpenJS Foundation is made up of 35 open source JavaScript projects including Appium, Dojo, jQuery, Node.js, and webpack and is supported by 30 corporate and end-user members, including GoDaddy, Google, IBM, Intel, Joyent, and Microsoft. These members recognize the interconnected nature of the JavaScript ecosystem and the importance of providing a central home for projects which represent significant shared value.
About the Open Source Initiative
For over 20 years, the Open Source Initiative (https://opensource.org/) has worked to raise awareness and adoption of open source software, and build bridges between open source communities of practice. As a global non-profit, the OSI champions software freedom in society through education, collaboration, and infrastructure, stewarding the Open Source Definition (OSD), and preventing abuse of the ideals and ethos inherent to the open source movement.