How the ASF works | Apache Software Foundation

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If you're curious about more governance details, we have a description of Apache style governance. The Apache Community Development project is also here to help newcomers find their way around.
If you're curious about more governance details, we have a description of Apache style governance. The Apache Community Development project is also here to help newcomers find their way around.
This page provides an overview of everything you always wanted to know about the Apache Software Foundation but were afraid to ask: the difference between membership and committership, who decides what, how elections take place, how our infrastructure is set up, what the board is and does, what a PMC is, what's the philosophy behind the incubator, and how the ASF deals with the incredible growth in new projects and contributors over the years. Come and see behind the scenes of the ASF.
What is the Apache Software Foundation?
The Foundation structure
Project management and collaboration
The Foundation Infrastructure
The Foundation Incubator
Other Foundation entities
The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is a 501(c)3 non-profit public charity organization incorporated in the United States of America. It was formed in 1999 primarily to:
provide a foundation for open, collaborative software development projects by supplying hardware, communication, and business infrastructure
create an independent legal entity to which companies and individuals can donate resources and be assured that those resources will be used for the public benefit
provide a means for individual volunteers to be sheltered from legal suits directed at the Foundation's projects
protect the 'Apache' brand, as applied to its software products, from being abused by other organizations
That's the dry facts, but how did all this come to be and what does it really mean? We need to step back a little in history.
Unlike other software development efforts under an open source license, like the Linux Kernel or the Perl/Python languages, no single developer initiated the Apache Web Server. A diverse group of people who shared common interests developed the project as they exchanged information, software fixes and suggestions.
As the group started to develop their own version of the software, moving away from the NCSA version, more people were attracted and started to help out, first by sending little patches, or suggestions, or replying to email on the mail list, later with more important contributions.
When the group felt that a person had "earned" the merit to be part of the development community, they granted direct access to the code repository, thus growing the group and increasing its ability to develop the program, and to maintain and develop the software more effectively.
We call this basic principle "meritocracy": government by merit.
The process scaled very well without creating friction because, unlike in other situations where power is a scarce and conservative resource, in the Apache group newcomers were seen as volunteers who wanted to help rather than people who wanted to steal a position.
With no limited and therefore valuable resource (money, energy, time) at stake, the group was happy to have new people come in and help. They only filtered those who expressed interest to find and include those whom they believed were committed enough for the task and matched the human attitudes required to work well with others, especially when there were disagreements.
After explaining the structure of the ASF, we will see how the meritocracy relates to the various roles.
As the Apache Web Server started to grow in market share and popularity, due to synergy of its technical merit and to the openness of the community behind the project, people started to create satellite projects. Influenced by the spirit of the community they were used to, they adopted the same traditions of community management.
By the time the ASF came into existence, there were several separate communities, each focused on a different side of the "web serving" problem, but all united by a common set of goals and a respected set of cultural traditions of both etiquette and process.
These separate communities were referred to as "projects" and, while similar, each of them exhibited little differences that made them special.
To reduce friction and allow diversity to emerge, rather than forcing a monoculture from the top, the ASF designates the projects as the central decision-making organizations of the Apache world. Each project has authority over development of its software, and has a great deal of latitude in designing its own technical charter and its own governing rules.
At the same time, the cultural influence of the original Apache group is strong and the similarities between the various communities are evident, as we'll see later.
The following entities govern the foundation:
Board of Directors (board) governs the foundation and is composed of members.
Project Management Committees (PMCs) govern the projects, and they are composed of committers. (Note that every PMC member is, by definition, also a committer.)
Various Officers of the corporation, appointed by the board, who set Foundation-wide policies in specific areas (legal, brand, fundraising, etc.)
For all the details, read our Governance overview.
The board is responsible for management and oversight of the business and affairs of the corporation in accordance with the foundation Bylaws. This includes management of the corporate assets (funds, intellectual property, trademarks, and support equipment) and allocation of corporate resources to projects.
However, each Apache project's PMC has technical decision-making authority regarding the content and direction of the project.
The board is currently composed of nine individuals, elected by and from the members of the foundation. The bylaws don't specify the number of board members that the foundation should have, but this was the num