FOSS Responders

Building an Open Source Care Plane, aka FOSS Responders

2020-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

Collaboration is at the heart of open source. One person gives voice to a need; others join in chorus and quickly an idea becomes a project…and a community.

We have always been in this together.

So I want to tell you the story of FOSS Responders and our UPLIFT! event, both designed to support open source projects already feeling the economic fallout from COVID-19. We chapter this story in the quantitation of metrics, but fundamentally it is a story of impact that goes far beyond numbers. It is our story of sustaining open source communities – people with hearts and minds – during an unprecedented time of disruption and change.

Once upon a (real)time… there was 1 tweet a mere 4 months ago (remember (March?) asking how others of open source were doing in the disruptions of COVID-19. All around us we could see unparalleled unemployment rates and economic contraction and knew that open source was not immune to their effects. In response, 99 volunteers rallied to tackle these challenges to our ecosystem.

Funding our project has been challenging but the support from FOSS Responders will go a long way towards making sure Certbot is on stable ground. – Max Hunter, Electronic Frontier Foundation

A world without the innovation of open source is not a world we will ever accept. Together, we rallied to support our peers with an online funding event. Aptly named UPLIFT!, the goal was to lift up open source organizations hit hard because of event cancellations, disappearing sponsorship opportunities and their usual ways of fundraising with their communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

With the support of 10 corporate partners and 22 individual donations (thank you!), we were able to raise $105,000USD for 10 open source organizations. The organizations FOSS Responders was able to uplift are; Apache Software Foundation, Drupal Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), FOSSASIA, Free Software Foundation, GNOME Foundation, Open Source Matters Inc., Plain Schwarz/Berlin Buzzwords, Python Software Foundation, and the Tor Project. Together, these organizations represent 1000s of open source contributors and 100s of employees.

“This was a really fun event and it energized our team.” - Python Software Foundation

Like the open source ecosystem and technology engineering itself, UPLIFT! was an event of innovation. To pull together and run the event, we used 9 platforms (Zoom, Jitsi, Etherpad, Google Docs, Slack, Signal, Open Collective, Twitter and good ol’ email) to showcase these 10 amazing teams. Eighty-nine attendees joined to discuss critical open source sustainability, representing 9 countries (and at least 7 timezones!).

Some topics were serious. Others were fun. Serious discussions included ‘How to best fund the FOSS organisations’, ‘How to move and run events online and best practices’, and ‘How to involve workplaces in FOSS organisations and projects.’ The fun ones ranged in absurdity including: 1 unicorn hat, 1 Happy Birthday by 55 Zoom atonal voices, and countless laughs.

“The people who came to our ‘booth’ were so engaged and asked such thoughtful questions.” - The Tor Project

We also have countless people to thank.

We want to thank our amazing Partners: the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, DigitalOcean, GitHub, Google Open Source, Indeed, Linux Fund, Open Collective, Open Source Collective, Sentry.io, and the Ethereum Foundation for their generous support of the open source ecosystem.

We would also like to thank the 10 organizations for all that they do and for joining us in showcasing open source resiliency. We would also like to thank our 10 room hosts and 10 reviewers whose generosity of spirit facilitated these dialogues of open source support. And we would like to thank our 89 attendees that helped us tackle economic contraction for our open source reality.

It will take courage and commitment to continue to build a resilient open source community that can weather these unplanned events. We need each other and we need to work together.

If you would like to help email us at hello@fossresponders.com.

This blog was crossposted on the Open Source Collective blog. All illustrations penned by the amazing Eriol Fox. You can find the entire UPLIFT infographic HERE. There’s 1 unicorn hat 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄 you don’t want to miss. #promise!

Join us at UPLIFT! by FOSS Responders

2020-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

We are excited to announce that UPLIFT! by FOSS Responders is just around the corner! The whole team, all 90+ of us, were blown away by the community’s support. We had 17 organizations apply for COVID-19 related support and funding.

For the event, we narrowed the organizations down to ten:

The FOSS Responders team is ecstatic to announce that in partnership with many organizations listed below, we’ll be distributing over $100,000 USD to the participating organizations!

However, we’re not done yet! We’re also inviting event participants to donate. Indeed has committed to match participant donations up to $5,000 USD. Donations and matched funds will be distributed equally to the participating organizations.

Honorable Mentions

We had more applications than space, and we’d like to shine a light on those organizations that were not selected to participate in the UPLIFT! event. Their applications will be reviewed in a second round by the FOSS Responders’ general organization committee for future support opportunities. We encourage you to support these great organizations.

Thank You Partners!

This would not have been possible without the support of our partners. A HUGE thank you to:

(Not IRL) FOSS Funding Event! Come May 22nd & Come Shine.

2020-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

On Friday, May 22nd, FOSS Responders will host a virtual event to provide financial support for organizations affected by the profound disruptions – to our economy and our community – of Covid-19.

The Virtual FOSS Responders Funding Event is designed to help support the open source community through this critical time. Conference cancellations have caused financial loss, unmet fundraising trajectories, and missed business opportunities. Now is the time to participate in the sustainability of open software organizations. Now is the time to be a part of its survival.

Limited Zoom invites available! Join us as an applicant, sponsor, mentor, or supporter. We want this to be a time of togetherness, mentorship, camaraderie (and commiseration), and a virtuous cycle of support!

You are as welcome as the flowers in May.

Whether you are an organization planning to sustain in an uncertain future, a company that wants to step up and hold our community together, and/or you’re a mentor with a passion to give during such unprecedented times, we want you to be part of our FOSS Responders Funding Event.

I need financial help: Difficult times ahead? Believe us, you’re not alone. Please consider applying to the Virtual FOSS Fund emergency grants. Fill out an event application. We want to hear from you!

I want to help the community as an event sponsor: Our open source community is at risk and our open source ecosystem is more vulnerable than ever. Join Indeed, Open Collective, and the Sloan Foundation as a partner in this work!! Help the open source community and gain visibility in the ecosystem we all count on. Email hello@fossresponders.com to learn more.

I want to help the community as an event mentor: Interested in sharing your open source wisdoms and perspective? Help us learn more about the needs of the community and find the right resources to support. Contact us to become an event mentor!

I want to sign up for the event as an attendee: It is a heavy time of change and grief. But these days also remind us about the best of open source collaboration. Come celebrate our amazing community and the amazing ways we build together. Register to be part of the FOSS Responders Funding Event. Provide a small donation and/or just some laughter to our collective convening! Zoom party hat required!

We are all in this together.

Coming Together to Support the Open Source Community

2020-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

Over the last few weeks, conference and event cancellations around the world have heavily impacted the open source community. These events play an important role in the ecosystem that supports free and open source software. If we want that ecosystem to remain healthy, it is important for us to act now.

Why support matters now more than ever

Conferences and events provide essential opportunities for the open source community to:

Coordinate activities
Raise funds
Grow their user bases
Support each other
Evangelize their technologies
Educate and onboard new contributors
Ship new releases
Share knowledge

Running these events requires a lot of time, effort, and money. When they are cancelled, the event organizers bear the brunt of the losses. If we want these events to continue—and the open source community to sustain itself and grow—all users of free and open source software must respond.

The FOSS Responders

Open source community leaders from across the industry have come together to form a working group called FOSS Responders. We’re focused on identifying open source events, communities, foundations, and community members who are most in need of support. We also want to support individuals who are unable to absorb conference-related cancellation fees. Our goals: amplify these community needs and mobilize organizational and individual resources to help.

This working group of committed industry professionals includes participants from Indeed, GitLab, Open Collective, the Sustain community, the Drupal Association, and several other organizations. You can find more information about this working group—including information on how to join and participate—at fossresponders.com.

Virtual funding event

Indeed and Open Collective are collaborating to host a virtual funding event on May 22, 2020. We want to raise funds for conference organizers that have suffered irrecoverable losses due to event cancellations. We are calling on our peers in the industry to join us at this event as fellow FOSS Funders.

By coming together to share knowledge, collaborate on decision making, and coordinate our collective response, we can ensure that these events will continue to serve and support the community in the months and years to come. You can find more information about this event here.

Taking action

Regardless of your need or your capacity to help, the time to act is now. Here are some specific actions you can take.

How to help

Now is the time to give back to the projects we depend on. This is how we future-proof our open source infrastructure investments and help millions who built the software we benefit from:

Donate and buy membership to foundations that support your projects
Donate to individuals working on projects you use via GitHub Sponsors and Open Collective
Donate to the FOSS Responders Open Collective—your funds will be used to help individuals who might otherwise fall through the cracks

How to get help

FOSS Responders will amplify your need so others can easily see who and how to help. By sharing your need, we can connect you with helpers.

If you are an individual who needs help paying for conference-related cancellation fees, fill out the FOSS Responders Individual Request
If you had to cancel an event and your organization needs financial assistance as a result, open an EVENT issue
If you need other kinds of help, open an ORGANIZE issue

How to get involved

The FOSS Responders working group is growing quickly and we could use your help.

Spread the word—we need to hear stories from people who have felt the impact Join the FOSS Responders Working Group Slack channel Ask your company to participate in the funding event on May 22, 2020