CINXE.COM
Why the Open Source Pledge is both relevant and timely
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Why the Open Source Pledge is both relevant and timely</title> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" /> <meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="True" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <link rel="preload" as="style" href="https://blog.opencollective.com/assets/built/screen.css?v=4b4d6947a3" /> <link rel="preload" as="script" href="https://blog.opencollective.com/assets/built/casper.js?v=4b4d6947a3" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://blog.opencollective.com/assets/built/screen.css?v=4b4d6947a3" /> <meta name="description" content="Today Sentry, in partnership with over 20 other organizations, launches the Open Source Pledge at https://opensourcepledge.com/. We at Open Source Collective think the timing couldn鈥檛 be better."> <link rel="icon" href="https://blog.opencollective.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2019/08/opencollectivelogo-sq.png" type="image/png"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://blog.opencollective.com/why-the-open-source-pledge-is-both-relevant-and-timely/"> <meta name="referrer" content="no-referrer-when-downgrade"> <link rel="amphtml" href="https://blog.opencollective.com/why-the-open-source-pledge-is-both-relevant-and-timely/amp/"> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Open Collective"> <meta property="og:type" content="article"> <meta property="og:title" content="Why the Open Source Pledge is both relevant and timely"> <meta property="og:description" content="Today Sentry, in partnership with over 20 other organizations, launches the Open Source Pledge at https://opensourcepledge.com/. We at Open Source Collective think the timing couldn鈥檛 be better."> <meta property="og:url" content="https://blog.opencollective.com/why-the-open-source-pledge-is-both-relevant-and-timely/"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://blog.opencollective.com/content/images/size/w1200/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png"> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-10-08T13:39:16.000Z"> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2024-10-08T13:39:16.000Z"> <meta property="article:tag" content="open source collective"> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Why the Open Source Pledge is both relevant and timely"> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Today Sentry, in partnership with over 20 other organizations, launches the Open Source Pledge at https://opensourcepledge.com/. We at Open Source Collective think the timing couldn鈥檛 be better."> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://blog.opencollective.com/why-the-open-source-pledge-is-both-relevant-and-timely/"> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://blog.opencollective.com/content/images/size/w1200/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png"> <meta name="twitter:label1" content="Written by"> <meta name="twitter:data1" content="Open Collective"> <meta name="twitter:label2" content="Filed under"> <meta name="twitter:data2" content="open source collective"> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@opencollect"> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@opencollect"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="479"> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Open Collective", "url": "https://blog.opencollective.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://blog.opencollective.com/content/images/2022/07/03--Logotype.png" } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Open Collective", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://blog.opencollective.com/content/images/2020/02/oc-logo-icon.png", "width": 96, "height": 96 }, "url": "https://blog.opencollective.com/author/opencollective/", "sameAs": [ "https://opencollective.com", "https://twitter.com/opencollect" ] }, "headline": "Why the Open Source Pledge is both relevant and timely", "url": "https://blog.opencollective.com/why-the-open-source-pledge-is-both-relevant-and-timely/", "datePublished": "2024-10-08T13:39:16.000Z", "dateModified": "2024-10-08T13:39:16.000Z", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://blog.opencollective.com/content/images/size/w1200/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png", "width": 1200, "height": 479 }, "keywords": "open source collective", "description": "Today Sentry, in partnership with over 20 other organizations, launches the Open Source Pledge at https://opensourcepledge.com/. We at Open Source Collective think the timing couldn鈥檛 be better.", "mainEntityOfPage": "https://blog.opencollective.com/why-the-open-source-pledge-is-both-relevant-and-timely/" } </script> <meta name="generator" content="Ghost 5.101"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Open Collective" href="https://blog.opencollective.com/rss/"> <script defer src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/ghost/sodo-search@~1.5/umd/sodo-search.min.js" data-key="6fa7e95c2c5c499f17a4faea1d" data-styles="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/ghost/sodo-search@~1.5/umd/main.css" data-sodo-search="https://opencollective.ghost.io/" data-locale="en" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <link href="https://blog.opencollective.com/webmentions/receive/" rel="webmention"> <script defer src="/public/cards.min.js?v=4b4d6947a3"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/public/cards.min.css?v=4b4d6947a3"> <script defer src="/public/comment-counts.min.js?v=4b4d6947a3" data-ghost-comments-counts-api="https://blog.opencollective.com/members/api/comments/counts/"></script><style>:root {--ghost-accent-color: #0C2D66;}</style> <style> /* Hide the feature image */ figure.post-full-image { display: none; } .article-image { display: none; } /* Display "mixtape" cross-linking embeds correctly */ .mixtape { box-shadow: 0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1), inset 0 0 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); width: 100%; } a.mixtape-url { display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: center; width: 100%; box-shadow: none; padding: 1px; } a.mixtape-url:hover { color: inherit; } .mixtape-title { line-height: 1.5em; } .mixtape-content{ padding: 16px 44px; font-size: 1.7rem; } .mixtape-description { line-height: 1.5em; opacity: 0.8; } .gh-head-menu { color: black; } .has-cover .site-description { color:black; } .has-cover:not(.home-template) .gh-head { background-color: #cbddf8; } </style> <script defer data-domain="blog.opencollective.com" src="https://plausible.io/js/plausible.js"></script> </head> <body class="post-template tag-open-source-collective is-head-left-logo has-cover"> <div class="viewport"> <header id="gh-head" class="gh-head outer"> <div class="gh-head-inner inner"> <div class="gh-head-brand"> <a class="gh-head-logo" href="https://blog.opencollective.com"> <img src="https://blog.opencollective.com/content/images/2022/07/03--Logotype.png" alt="Open Collective"> </a> <button class="gh-search gh-icon-btn" aria-label="Search this site" data-ghost-search><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" width="20" height="20"><path stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M21 21l-6-6m2-5a7 7 0 11-14 0 7 7 0 0114 0z"></path></svg></button> <button class="gh-burger" aria-label="Main Menu"></button> </div> <nav class="gh-head-menu"> <ul class="nav"> <li class="nav-website"><a href="https://opencollective.com">Website</a></li> <li class="nav-case-studies"><a href="https://blog.opencollective.com/tag/case-studies/">Case Studies</a></li> <li class="nav-news"><a href="https://blog.opencollective.com/tag/news/">News</a></li> <li class="nav-how-to"><a href="https://blog.opencollective.com/tag/how-to/">How-To</a></li> <li class="nav-help"><a href="https://docs.opencollective.com">Help</a></li> </ul> </nav> <div class="gh-head-actions"> <button class="gh-search gh-icon-btn" aria-label="Search this site" data-ghost-search><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" width="20" height="20"><path stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M21 21l-6-6m2-5a7 7 0 11-14 0 7 7 0 0114 0z"></path></svg></button> </div> </div> </header> <div class="site-content"> <main id="site-main" class="site-main"> <article class="article post tag-open-source-collective featured "> <header class="article-header gh-canvas"> <div class="article-tag post-card-tags"> <span class="post-card-primary-tag"> <a href="/tag/open-source-collective/">open source collective</a> </span> <span class="post-card-featured"><svg width="16" height="17" viewBox="0 0 16 17" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M4.49365 4.58752C3.53115 6.03752 2.74365 7.70002 2.74365 9.25002C2.74365 10.6424 3.29678 11.9778 4.28134 12.9623C5.26591 13.9469 6.60127 14.5 7.99365 14.5C9.38604 14.5 10.7214 13.9469 11.706 12.9623C12.6905 11.9778 13.2437 10.6424 13.2437 9.25002C13.2437 6.00002 10.9937 3.50002 9.16865 1.68127L6.99365 6.25002L4.49365 4.58752Z" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"></path> </svg> Featured</span> </div> <h1 class="article-title">Why the Open Source Pledge is both relevant and timely</h1> <p class="article-excerpt">Today Sentry, in partnership with over 20 other organizations, launches the Open Source Pledge at https://opensourcepledge.com/. We at Open Source Collective think the timing couldn鈥檛 be better.</p> <div class="article-byline"> <section class="article-byline-content"> <ul class="author-list instapaper_ignore"> <li class="author-list-item"> <a href="/author/opencollective/" class="author-avatar" aria-label="Read more of Open Collective"> <img class="author-profile-image" src="/content/images/size/w100/2020/02/oc-logo-icon.png" alt="Open Collective" /> </a> </li> </ul> <div class="article-byline-meta"> <h4 class="author-name"><a href="/author/opencollective/">Open Collective</a></h4> <div class="byline-meta-content"> <time class="byline-meta-date" datetime="2024-10-08">Oct 8, 2024</time> <span class="byline-reading-time"><span class="bull">•</span> 1 min read</span> </div> </div> </section> </div> <figure class="article-image"> <img srcset="/content/images/size/w300/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png 300w, /content/images/size/w600/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png 600w, /content/images/size/w1000/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png 1000w, /content/images/size/w2000/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png 2000w" sizes="(min-width: 1400px) 1400px, 92vw" src="/content/images/size/w2000/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-08-at-12.30.40.png" alt="Why the Open Source Pledge is both relevant and timely" /> </figure> </header> <section class="gh-content gh-canvas"> <p>Today Sentry, in partnership with over 20 other organizations, launches the Open Source Pledge at <a href="https://opensourcepledge.com/?ref=blog.opencollective.com"><u>https://opensourcepledge.com/</u></a>. We at Open Source Collective think the timing couldn鈥檛 be better.</p><p>The Open Source Pledge is simple: pledge $2,000 per developer to open source software to become a member. The pledge leaves how and to who an organisation should give, it鈥檚 the amount that matters most. </p><p>This simple message is incredibly important.</p><p>Last year, we saw the broader impact of societal and financial shifts on the tech sector, hundreds of companies, big and small, scaled back. Thousands of people lost their jobs, including many who champion the support for open source software and the communities who sustain it within their organizations.</p><p>In 2023 Open Source Collective saw a 20% reduction in contributions to our member projects, <em>all</em> of which came from a drop in corporate sponsorships:</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdGFvdf5HUWtiLuDZaFkJuwGYluzfiUuSe3gdiiVdR8oyQ6FSNK9Sjc6JHIjYue_kqD3nl5zo4hFW6N33wnzNrI1V4sar-2XUZ6DyuXtF94h6ycRwu0P-lMEKuIYbhT8Zuw-gCJjAhObRGBwkugaZUaWco?key=R62Nl8RJIQWokS_I5DP0tg" class="kg-image" alt="Graph showing contributions to OSC-hosted projects since 2017. The graph shows a 30-50% increase year on year until 2023, where it shows a 20% decline to 10 million dollars. The figure for 2024 stands at just over 8 million dollars. " loading="lazy" width="624" height="205"><figcaption><i><em class="italic" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Graph showing contributions to OSC-hosted projects since 2017</em></i></figcaption></figure><p>When we look at our history, this reduction is significant. Since 2016, we have seen a steady 30-50% increase in sponsorships for projects hosted by Open Source Collective each year. A 50% drop in a single year has had a profound effect on the sustainability of some of our most important projects.</p><p>While 2024 has shown a slight recovery, with contributions expected to be 10% higher than the dismal 2023 for open source, it鈥檚 clear that we need to take collective action to change the narrative and get back on track. Therefore, in collaboration with Sentry, Open Source Collective is committing significant funds to make it easier for companies to support the software they rely on. We鈥檒l delve deeper into this in the coming weeks, but for now, let鈥檚 focus on the key message:</p><p>Companies: pay your share.</p><p>Thank you.</p> </section> <section class="article-comments gh-canvas"> <script defer src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/ghost/comments-ui@~0.21/umd/comments-ui.min.js" data-locale="en" data-ghost-comments="https://blog.opencollective.com/" data-api="https://opencollective.ghost.io/ghost/api/content/" data-admin="https://opencollective.ghost.io/ghost/" data-key="6fa7e95c2c5c499f17a4faea1d" data-title="null" data-count="true" data-post-id="670516328de8e9000169d64d" data-color-scheme="auto" data-avatar-saturation="60" data-accent-color="#0C2D66" data-comments-enabled="all" data-publication="Open Collective" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> </section> </article> </main> <aside class="read-more-wrap outer"> <div class="read-more inner"> <article class="post-card post featured"> <a class="post-card-image-link" href="/the-open-collective-platform-is-moving-to-a-community-governed-non-profit/"> <img class="post-card-image" srcset="/content/images/size/w300/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-11-at-5.37.50-PM.png 300w, /content/images/size/w600/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-11-at-5.37.50-PM.png 600w, /content/images/size/w1000/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-11-at-5.37.50-PM.png 1000w, /content/images/size/w2000/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-11-at-5.37.50-PM.png 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 400px, 800px" src="/content/images/size/w600/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-11-at-5.37.50-PM.png" alt="The Open Collective Platform is moving to a community governed non-profit!" loading="lazy" /> </a> <div class="post-card-content"> <a class="post-card-content-link" href="/the-open-collective-platform-is-moving-to-a-community-governed-non-profit/"> <header class="post-card-header"> <div class="post-card-tags"> <span class="post-card-featured"><svg width="16" height="17" viewBox="0 0 16 17" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M4.49365 4.58752C3.53115 6.03752 2.74365 7.70002 2.74365 9.25002C2.74365 10.6424 3.29678 11.9778 4.28134 12.9623C5.26591 13.9469 6.60127 14.5 7.99365 14.5C9.38604 14.5 10.7214 13.9469 11.706 12.9623C12.6905 11.9778 13.2437 10.6424 13.2437 9.25002C13.2437 6.00002 10.9937 3.50002 9.16865 1.68127L6.99365 6.25002L4.49365 4.58752Z" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"></path> </svg> Featured</span> </div> <h2 class="post-card-title"> The Open Collective Platform is moving to a community governed non-profit! </h2> </header> <div class="post-card-excerpt">A group of fiscal hosts representing thousands of collectives have created a new independent, community-governed, non-profit organization and have reached an agreement with Open Collective Inc. to take over the Open Collective platform as it exists today.</div> </a> <footer class="post-card-meta"> <time class="post-card-meta-date" datetime="2024-10-11">Oct 11, 2024</time> <span class="post-card-meta-length">5 min read</span> <script data-ghost-comment-count="670901dc32b53400012cdaff" data-ghost-comment-count-empty="" data-ghost-comment-count-singular="comment" data-ghost-comment-count-plural="comments" data-ghost-comment-count-tag="span" data-ghost-comment-count-class-name="" data-ghost-comment-count-autowrap="true" > </script> </footer> </div> </article> <article class="post-card post"> <a class="post-card-image-link" href="/open-collective-update-july/"> <img class="post-card-image" srcset="/content/images/size/w300/2024/07/Background-1024x768.png 300w, /content/images/size/w600/2024/07/Background-1024x768.png 600w, /content/images/size/w1000/2024/07/Background-1024x768.png 1000w, /content/images/size/w2000/2024/07/Background-1024x768.png 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 400px, 800px" src="/content/images/size/w600/2024/07/Background-1024x768.png" alt="Open Collective Update - July 2024" loading="lazy" /> </a> <div class="post-card-content"> <a class="post-card-content-link" href="/open-collective-update-july/"> <header class="post-card-header"> <div class="post-card-tags"> </div> <h2 class="post-card-title"> Open Collective Update - July 2024 </h2> </header> <div class="post-card-excerpt">Join our Discord and get involved in our redesigning our crowdfunding expereince. Plus News, Events and more</div> </a> <footer class="post-card-meta"> <time class="post-card-meta-date" datetime="2024-07-22">Jul 22, 2024</time> <span class="post-card-meta-length">6 min read</span> <script data-ghost-comment-count="669e8c9a4a066d0001a8c2b9" data-ghost-comment-count-empty="" data-ghost-comment-count-singular="comment" data-ghost-comment-count-plural="comments" data-ghost-comment-count-tag="span" data-ghost-comment-count-class-name="" data-ghost-comment-count-autowrap="true" > </script> </footer> </div> </article> <article class="post-card post"> <a class="post-card-image-link" href="/crowdfunding-redesign-profiles-accounts/"> <img class="post-card-image" srcset="/content/images/size/w300/2024/07/Untitled-design--1---1--1.png 300w, /content/images/size/w600/2024/07/Untitled-design--1---1--1.png 600w, /content/images/size/w1000/2024/07/Untitled-design--1---1--1.png 1000w, /content/images/size/w2000/2024/07/Untitled-design--1---1--1.png 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 400px, 800px" src="/content/images/size/w600/2024/07/Untitled-design--1---1--1.png" alt="Crowdfunding Redesign: Profiles & Accounts" loading="lazy" /> </a> <div class="post-card-content"> <a class="post-card-content-link" href="/crowdfunding-redesign-profiles-accounts/"> <header class="post-card-header"> <div class="post-card-tags"> </div> <h2 class="post-card-title"> Crowdfunding Redesign: Profiles & Accounts </h2> </header> <div class="post-card-excerpt">During engineering cycle four we built a few prototypes to demonstrate our intentions for the crowdfunding redesign project. We built these prototypes so that you could experience these new designs directly with your own Collectives, projects and events (instead of sharing static screenshots of demo Collectives). 馃毄These tools are preview</div> </a> <footer class="post-card-meta"> <time class="post-card-meta-date" datetime="2024-07-16">Jul 16, 2024</time> <span class="post-card-meta-length">4 min read</span> <script data-ghost-comment-count="66966b6d0f599900013f77ab" data-ghost-comment-count-empty="" data-ghost-comment-count-singular="comment" data-ghost-comment-count-plural="comments" data-ghost-comment-count-tag="span" data-ghost-comment-count-class-name="" data-ghost-comment-count-autowrap="true" > </script> </footer> </div> </article> </div> </aside> </div> <footer class="site-footer outer"> <div class="inner"> <section class="copyright"><a href="https://blog.opencollective.com">Open Collective</a> © 2024</section> <nav class="site-footer-nav"> </nav> <div class="gh-powered-by"><a href="https://ghost.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Powered by Ghost</a></div> </div> </footer> </div> <div class="pswp" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="pswp__bg"></div> <div class="pswp__scroll-wrap"> <div class="pswp__container"> <div class="pswp__item"></div> <div class="pswp__item"></div> <div class="pswp__item"></div> </div> <div class="pswp__ui pswp__ui--hidden"> <div class="pswp__top-bar"> <div class="pswp__counter"></div> <button class="pswp__button pswp__button--close" title="Close (Esc)"></button> <button class="pswp__button pswp__button--share" title="Share"></button> <button class="pswp__button pswp__button--fs" title="Toggle fullscreen"></button> <button class="pswp__button pswp__button--zoom" title="Zoom in/out"></button> <div class="pswp__preloader"> <div class="pswp__preloader__icn"> <div class="pswp__preloader__cut"> <div class="pswp__preloader__donut"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="pswp__share-modal pswp__share-modal--hidden pswp__single-tap"> <div class="pswp__share-tooltip"></div> </div> <button class="pswp__button pswp__button--arrow--left" title="Previous (arrow left)"></button> <button class="pswp__button pswp__button--arrow--right" title="Next (arrow right)"></button> <div class="pswp__caption"> <div class="pswp__caption__center"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.1.min.js" integrity="sha256-9/aliU8dGd2tb6OSsuzixeV4y/faTqgFtohetphbbj0=" crossorigin="anonymous"> </script> <script src="https://blog.opencollective.com/assets/built/casper.js?v=4b4d6947a3"></script> <script> $(document).ready(function () { // Mobile Menu Trigger $('.gh-burger').click(function () { $('body').toggleClass('gh-head-open'); }); // FitVids - Makes video embeds responsive $(".gh-content").fitVids(); }); </script> <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-147664506-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-147664506-1'); </script> </body> </html>