Members Newsletter – May 2025
May is Maintainer Month—a time to recognize the essential work of those who build, fix, review, and secure the code that the world relies on every day. At OSI, we know maintainers are the heartbeat of Open Source. That’s why we’re lifting up their stories, sharing ways to get involved, and making space to say thank you. If you know a maintainer, take a moment this month to let them know their work matters.
Support for maintainers, developers, and Open Source businesses is all part of the critical work we do at OSI. This month, we’re also proud to sponsor the Open Source Founders Summit, a new gathering for the creators building companies grounded in Open Source principles. Founders play a unique role in shaping the future of the ecosystem—and they deserve support too, from choosing the right license to finding sustainable business models.
Our commitment to this community is outlined in our 2025 roadmap, where we’ve pledged to show up, stand by you, and say clearly: we’ve got your back.
Thank you for being part of this global movement. Whether you’re maintaining a project, launching a startup, or just getting involved, we see you—and we’re here to help.
Stefano Maffulli
Executive Director, OSI
I hold weekly office hours on Fridays with OSI members: book time if you want to chat about OSI’s activities, if you want to volunteer or have suggestions.
News from the OSI
May is Maintainer Month: Celebrating those who secure Open Source
Maintainer Month returns this May, and the Open Source Initiative (OSI) is proud to join GitHub and a global community of contributors in honoring the individuals who steward and sustain Open Source projects. In 2025, Maintainer Month enters its fifth year with a clear and urgent theme: Securing Open Source.
Other highlights
New project highlights Open Source Initiative and Apereo Foundation’s response to White House on AI
Advance your career and organization with the CODE certification
Join us at the OFA Symposium 2025: Advancing open technology impact in uncertain times
Key insights from the 2025 State of Open Source Report
There are no “Degrees of Open”: why Openness is binary
OSI in the news
Redis ‘returns’ to open source with AGPL license
Article from The Register
Adding the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) as an additional licensing option for Redis, starting with Redis 8, the business said it is moving to a licensing model approved as open source by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) – as the Server Side Public License (SSPLv1) it switched to in March last year has remained outside the accepted definition of open source software.
Other highlights
National AI Action plan should expand open-source offerings, respondents say (NextGov)
Open source technology in the age of AI (McKinsey)
Read all press mentions from this past month
Other news
News from OSI affiliates
Eclipse Foundation: Navigating the EU Cyber Resilience Act in a Global Software Supply Chain
GNOME: Steven Deobald is the new Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation
OpenJS Foundation: Meet Our 2025 OpenJS Foundation Board of Directors
Linux Foundation: CNCF and Synadia Align on Securing the Future of the NATS.io Project
Software Heritage: President Macron Highlights Software Heritage at the Sorbonne: A Call for Europe to Embrace its Role in a Global Mission
Open Source Matters (Joomla): Leadership interview Maria Skampoura – President
Drupal: DrupalCon Atlanta 2025: A Celebration of Community, Innovation, and Impact
Debian: Debian Project Leader election 2025 is over, Andreas Tille re-elected!
Open Source Lab: Future of OSL in Jeopardy
The Document Foundation: Celebrating 20 Years of the OASIS Open Document Format (ODF) Standard
Open Invention Network: OIN Celebrates 20 Years
Git: Git turns 20: A Q&A with Linus Torvalds
Survey
The 2025 State of OSPOs and Open Source Management Survey: The TODO Group, the Open Source Initiative and Linux Foundation Education are conducting a survey as part of a research project on the prevalence and outcomes of open source programs and similar open source initiatives operating across the globe.
Events
Upcoming events
PyCon US (May 14-22 – Pittsburgh)
Open Source Founders Summit (May 19-20 – Paris / OSI is a sponsor)
OSI Maintainer Month (May 21 – Online)
UN Open Source Week (July 16-20 – NYC)
OW2con (June 17-18 – Paris)
Open Source Summit NA (June 23-25 – Denver)
CFPs
Community Over Code (September 11-14 – Minneapolis)
Nerdearla (September 23-27 – Buenos Aires)
Deep Dive: Data Governance (October 1-3 – Online)
OpenForum Academy (OFA) Symposium 2025 (November 18-19 – Rio de Janeiro)
Thanks to our sponsors
New sponsors and renewals
Microsoft
OpenProject
See all sponsors
Interested in sponsoring, or partnering with, the OSI? Please see our Sponsorship Prospectus and our Annual Report. Please contact the OSI to find out more about how your company can promote open source development, communities and software.
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Let’s build a world where knowledge is freely shared, ideas are nurtured, and innovation knows no bounds!
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Source: opensource.org