Community-led development "The Apache Way"
This is a comprehensive resource for members of the press and industry analysts. Those seeking electronic press kits and/or sample press materials may contact us for additional assistance.
Incorporated in 1999, the all-volunteer Foundation oversees more than 350 leading Open Source projects, including Apache HTTP Server — the world's most popular Web server software since its creation in 1994.
Evolving from the original eight developers (collectively known as "the Apache Group") who contributed code enhancements to the NCSA daemon Web server, The ASF today is a fully-distributed, US 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization comprising more than 730 individual Members and over 7,000 Committers across six continents.
The ASF develops, stewards, and incubates dozens of enterprise-grade Open Source projects that power mission-critical applications in financial services, aerospace, publishing, government, healthcare, research, infrastructure, and more. From Accumulo to ZooKeeper, many Apache projects serve as the backbone for some of the world's most visible and widely used applications in Big Data, Cloud, Search and CMS, DevOps and Build Management, IoT and Edge Computing, Machine and Deep Learning, Servers, Web Frameworks, and much more.
The ASF's successful collaborative, meritocratic technology and community development process known as "The Apache Way" is both highly-emulated by other Open Source foundations and the subject of numerous industry case studies and business school curricula. Each Apache project is overseen by a Project Management Committee (PMC), a self-selected team of active contributors that guides the project's day-to-day operations, including community development and product releases.
Billions of users benefit from the ASF’s freely available Open Source software: countless non-ASF-developed software applications have been distributed under the terms of the popular, business-friendly Apache License. By allowing source code to be used for the development of any software –both Open Source and proprietary– the Apache License makes it easy for all users to implement and deploy Apache products.
The Foundation provides organizational, legal, and financial support for the incubation and development of new projects, and minimizes the potential legal exposure of intellectual property and financial contributions.
The Apache community actively participates in ASF mailing lists, mentoring initiatives, and ApacheCon, the Foundation's official user conference, trainings, and expo. Now in its 20th year, ApacheCon, along with smaller events such as the Apache Roadshow, continues to draw attendees from all over the world to embrace ”Tomorrow’s Technology Today” through unparalleled educational, collaboration, and networking opportunities.
As charitable organization, the ASF is funded through tax-deductible contributions from corporations, foundations, and private individuals. The ASF runs a very lean operation, spending 10% or less on overhead. Critical Infrastructure support services keep Apache bandwidth, connectivity, servers, and hardware running 24x7x365 at near 100% uptime for less than US$5K per project annually. Donations to the ASF also help offset day-to-day operating expenses such as legal and accounting services, brand management, public relations, and general office expenditures.
Hailed for nearly two decades as a leading source for Open Source software and tools that meet the demand for interoperable, adaptable, and sustainable solutions, the ASF is developing a 5-year strategic plan and budget to help sustain the development of community-driven innovations for the next 20+ years.
Official ASF press releases can be found on the Foundation blog, with archives of our announcements from 1999-2010 also available. Additional news updates are posted on the @TheASF Twitter feed, the @ApacheCon Twitter feed, as well as the Apache Announce Lists.
Please contact us to be added to the media briefing list on ASF-related activities. Note that participation in the specific press program is restricted to credentialed members of the press and analyst community only.
Lauded as one of the most compelling communities in Open Source, The Apache Software Foundation frequently works with members of the media and industry analysts as experts on a broad range of technology, development, and community issues. We are happy to serve as a resource to editors and analysts; provide quotes from ASF executives and Project Management Committee members; review upcoming articles for accuracy of Apache-related facts; and provide industry insight to select organizations.
Kindly note that The ASF is vendor-neutral: we are unable to provide any statements that endorse, promote, or advertise the capability, credibility, or quality of any technology, product, or service. Please contact us for assistance.
Any press release or news announcement that refers to The ASF and/or its projects must be reviewed and approved by the VP, Marketing and Publicity in advance of its distribution. Our review/approval process requires a minimum two weeks (10 business days) to review for general content and to ensure messaging accuracy within the announcement and supporting documents fall within our guidelines. We are sensitive to internal approval processes and will expedite feedback where possible. IMPORTANT: kindly notify us if you plan to distribute your announcement in advance to the media (or hold briefings) under embargo.
Please forward the document in its entirety (even if in draft stage) to press@apache.org for consideration. Note that The ASF is vendor-neutral and does not provide any testimonials that endorse, promote, or advertise the capability, credibility, or quality of any technology, product, or service. If seeking a quote from The ASF, please supply a quote that we can review and modify: we will confirm the appropriateness of the quote, along with the correct spokesperson for attribution. We will not participate in announcements that contain any statements that we perceive to be disparaging, inflammatory, or harmful.
Joint announcements are rarely issued; examples of such releases include instances where a major industry milestone or initiative takes place, or announcing ASF Platinum-level Sponsorships. Sample Headlines might include: "ASF Reaches Agreement with Sun Microsystems to Allow Open Source Java Implementations", or "Company X Announces ASF Platinum Sponsorship". Kindly contact the VP, Marketing and Publicity directly at press@apache.org for guidelines pertaining to headline/lead, dateline, and boilerplate use. If seeking a quote from The ASF, please supply a quote that we can review and modify: note that The ASF is vendor-neutral and does not provide any testimonials that endorse, promote, or advertise the capability, credibility, or quality of any technology, product, or service. We will confirm the appropriateness of the quote, along with the correct spokesperson for attribution.
The following applies to those directly involved with The ASF, for example, a company whose employees actively participate in the development of an ASF project, or products are based on ASF projects, or has become a new ASF Sponsor. Sample headlines might include: "Company X Applauds the Release of Apache ProjectName v.1.5", or "Company X Supports Apache ProjectName with Product". The announcement may state that employees or consultants participate in the development of an ASF project, or serve The ASF on a Project Management Committee (PMC) or executive level position. Such an individual may provide a quote in the press release, but cannot imply that the statement is on behalf of The ASF unless prior permission has been granted and the proposed quote approved by the VP, Marketing and Publicity.
Another such release would be a general industry announcement: for example, a report on Open Source development practices or research findings that featured The ASF, its projects, or The Apache Way. Sample headlines might include: "Government Study Finds New Technology Development Methods Strongly Influenced by Open Source Best Practices". A vendor-neutral industry-related statement or quote may be provided by The ASF only with prior permission; the overall announcement content and proposed quote must be approved by the VP, Marketing and Publicity. The announcement must not include The ASF boilerplate, dateline location, logo, media contacts (including agencies acting on behalf of the ASF) may not be used in such announcements; additionally, The ASF cannot be an active lead in the headline or lead.
This applies to those indirectly involved with The ASF, for example: a company whose products and services are based on Apache-developed projects (where the Apache project is an "ingredient brand"), or announcing conference speakers or special events (such as a user group meetings and trainings). SAMPLE headlines: "Company X CEO to Deliver Keynote at ApacheCon", or "CompanyName to hold Apache ProjectName User Group Meeting/Training/etc.", or "CompanyName Launches Product Powered by Apache ProjectName".
The ASF is vendor-neutral and does not provide any testimonials that endorse, promote, or advertise the capability, credibility, or quality of any technology, product, or service. A quote cannot be provided by The ASF, except under very rare circumstances with the overall announcement and proposed quote approved by the VP, Marketing and Publicity. The announcement must not include The ASF boilerplate, dateline location, logo, media contacts (including agencies acting on behalf of The ASF). In addition, The ASF cannot be an active lead in the headline, nor can the announcement state that the third party is in partnership with or jointly announces to do something together with The ASF.
Apache projects and their communities are encouraged to actively build awareness of their project and activities through emails, blog posts, tweets, and other means of outreach. Educational opportunities include ApacheCon, MeetUps, videos, podcasts, articles, third party conferences, and related community events.
Whilst speaking with members of the media and analyst community, projects must be referred to as "Apache Project Name" as per the ASF Branding Guidelines. Be prepared to answer "who uses you?": as a project’s known user base grows, PMCs are welcome to promote their users in a "Powered By" page like the Apache Hadoop Powered By page. Create and encourage project supporters to utilize the project’s "Powered By" logo. Ensure that the project maintains vendor neutrality, particularly when referring to project users.
Projects are advised to prepare news announcements and hone their messaging privately within their PMCs (keeping the content confidential to the PMC, and not on dev@, user@ or any other public list or forum) to ensure that the public or press don’t scoop your story before it’s out or publish inaccurate information. At times messaging changes, features are unable to be delivered as intended, testimonials need adjusting, and so on, and it’s best to minimize the chances of your story to get out with incorrect information, or for nobody to recognize your news story because it was covered earlier and is therefore no longer considered newsworthy.
Projects should refrain from issuing announcements under embargo. Pre-announcing project features or release dates to members of the media is risky, as not all journalists or outlets honor confidentiality requests in general, or adhere to embargo dates/requirements. Furthermore, many journalists are unable or unwilling to fulfill requests for retractions or corrections. Be aware, be careful.
Apache PMCs are responsible for the "care and feeding" of a project’s code, community, and communications on a day-to-day basis. Projects are recommended to:
No formal press releases or announcements can be made by a third party on behalf of an Apache project --for example, "Company ABC announces new features in Apache Project Name" (or including it as part of upcoming features/support in their own products). However, interested parties may issue supporting announcements with pointers to official project-originating news providing that a link to the corresponding mailing list(s) and/or blog post is included. Third parties are prohibited from using the official ASF Boilerplate or project boilerplates in their press releases or announcements unless authorized by ASF Marketing & Publicity.
Guidelines for "founding" individuals, organizations, and communities of Apache Projects: many projects enter the Apache Incubator with a recognized individual founder, a group of founders, or a corporate entity where the project originated and/or which was responsible for its development/administration. The ASF is vendor neutral: all Apache projects are overseen by their respective Project Management Committees (PMCs), who guide the project's day-to-day operations. Once a project comes to the ASF, its development and oversight is the responsibility of the project’s PMC and community. There are no "owners" of any Apache project. Individuals and companies who founded projects that are now under the auspices of the ASF may be referred to as "original creator of Apache Project Name" or "original developer of Apache Project Name". Examples: 1) individual’s title --"Individual’s Name, Apache Member (or Committer) and original developer of Apache Project Name"; 2) company whose founders or employees are the original creators of an Apache project --"Company Name, founded by the original creators of Apache Project Name..." or "several Company Name team members are the original developers of Apache Project Name...".
The ASF Marketing & Publicity team is happy to work with organizations as they relate to Apache projects and their overall involvement with the ASF, particularly those with "original developers" status. The publicity/brand/communications guidelines created by Databricks serve as a "good practice" model for other Apache-focused organizations to emulate.
Note that as a distributed organization, each individual Apache project manages their own logos and trademarks. High quality images of the ASF's logo and selected Powered By logos available for third party use under certain cases are available on our Press Kit page.
Kindly note that all Apache project logos and names are trademarks of the ASF.
The Apache Press Team is responsible for overall media and analyst relations, as well as any related inquiries. The Apache Press Team is led by our VP, Marketing and Publicity. Members of the Apache Press Team are carefully selected members of the ASF membership who monitor the press@ list and are available to speak with reporters.
Email press@apache.org with all media-related inquiries. Please be sure to include the following information:
Timeframe/Deadline We will endeavor to respond to your inquiry within two business days; however, as The ASF is an international collective of volunteers, additional time may be needed to secure the appropriate spokespeople.
For all other (non-media) related questions, please see:
*[ASF]: Apache Software Foundation