Growing the impact of Open Source around the world
The Open Source Initiative is the global nonprofit building the future powered by open collaboration, transparency and innovation.
“I think this is an organization that you really should support, because they specifically focus on Open Source licenses. And I think that’s a very important area that needs continuous support and evaluation.”
-Peter Zaitsev, Founder, Percona
“Thank you OSI for protecting what open source means, so that everybody uses the same definition when we’re talking about open source.”
-Emily Omier, Founder, Open Source Founders Summit
“The Open Source Initiative does vital work defining, maintaining and keeping consistent the definition of what open source actually is.”
-Michael Meeks, CEO, Collabora Productivity
Supported by the whole Open Source ecosystem
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100+
Licenses approved
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5000
Active members worldwide
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100+
Countries represented
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25
Events attended in 2024
Our mission
We are a non-profit organization with global scope, formed to educate and advocate for the benefits of Open Source and to build bridges among different constituencies in the Open Source community.
✅ Supporting a healthy ecosystem.
✅ Promoting worldwide collaboration.
✅ Educating about the value of Open Source.
✅ Advocating for frictionless innovation.
Open Source licenses: The cornerstone of an 8.8 trillion dollar industry
Open Source software plays a central role in global innovation, research, and economic growth.
According to a Harvard study from 2024, the Open Source ecosystem’s demand-side value is around 8.8 trillion, and firms would need to spend 3.5 times more on software than they currently do if Open Source software did not exist.
“I firmly believe that open source is the best way to build technology that’s collaborative, transparent and that’s impactful and the OSI crystallizes all these values in the same place.”
-Florent Zara, Open Source Services Team Lead, Eclipse Foundation
“I support OSI as a thought leader in the open source ecosystem because it provides a set of norms that we can all agree on.”
-Anais Concepcion, Co-CEO, Grist
Projects we are working on
Deep Dive: Data Governance Conf – Data Governance and Open Source AI
We are gearing up for our upcoming virtual conference. Submit your proposal before June 28th.
Supporting maintainers and protecting the Open Source ecosystem
We celebrated maintainers month with 50 stories from top Open Source maintainers.
Data Governance in Open Source AI
AI is changing the world at a remarkable pace, with Open Source AI playing a pivotal role in shaping its trajectory: How do we create a data ecosystem that is not only robust but also equitable and sustainable?
Support the End of 10 campaign
If you bought your computer after 2010, there’s most likely no reason to throw it out. By just installing an up-to-date Linux operating system you can keep using it for years to come.
“The Open Source Initiative creates a level playing field for all commercial open source vendors to flourish.”
-Sandro Groganz Head of Marketing, Passbolt
“Thank you OSI for protecting what open source means, so that everybody uses the same definition when we’re talking about open source.”
-Raphael Michel, Managing Director, pretix
THE open source ai definition 1.0
We have released the first stable version of the Definition.
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