Editing The Apache Software Foundation (section)

{{Short description|Nonprofit open-source software community}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                = The Apache Software Foundation
| logo                = ASF Logo.svg
| type                = [[501(c)(3) organization]]        
| founders            = {{Hlist|[[Brian Behlendorf]]|[[Ken Coar]]|Mark Cox|[[Lars Eilebrecht]]|Ralf S. Engelschall|[[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|Bill Stoddard|Paul Sutton|[[Randy Terbush]]|[[Dirk-Willem van Gulik]]}}
| location            = [[Wakefield, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| origins             = 
| key_people          = 
| area_served         = 
| product             = 
| focus               = [[Open-source software]]
| 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
| endowment           = 
| num_volunteers      = 
| num_employees       = 
| num_members         = 
| owner               = 
| Non-profit_slogan   = 
| homepage            = {{URL|https://www.apache.org/|apache.org}}
| dissolved           = 
| 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) to support 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 [[ApacheCon]] 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>