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Facebook enters elite list of Apache Foundation sponsors
By siliconindia
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Monday, 18 January 2010, 19:14 IST
Bangalore: Facebook has entered the list of elite sponsors of the non-profit group Apache Software Foundation (ASF) by deciding to contribute $40,000 annually. ASF looks after the Apache Web server and a growing number of other significant open source software projects.
Facebook has a long history of supporting open source software development and has contributed code to various Apache projects, including Hadoop. Facebook has also launched several open source projects of its own, some of which are maintained in collaboration with the open source software community through the Apache Incubator program, according to ars technica.
Many analysts feel that Facebook has made a smart move by deciding to support ASF as it will give the company credibility. ASF Chairman Jim Jagielski welcomed the move by Facebook on his blog post. He says, "Sponsoring the ASF helps us grow existing projects, incubate new initiatives, promote community development, host user events, expand our outreach, and provide the infrastructure that keeps the Foundation running on a day-to-day basis. We are grateful for the generous support of Facebook as Gold Sponsors. With Open Source in its DNA, Facebook is an enthusiastic champion and active contributor to the ASF, including the Hive subproject of Apache Hadoop, as well as the popular incubating projects Thrift and Cassandra - all originally developed at Facebook."
According to an announcement that was published on the official Apache blog, Facebook has signed up for gold-level sponsorship - the second highest tier - which means that the company has committed to making an annual donation to the foundation of at least $40,000.
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are already the sponsors of ASF.
