Highlights –

  • Appwrite’s CEO aims to use some of Appwrite’s success and investment to support other developers and maintainers.
  • Appwrite rewards maintainers by appreciating their work and awarding monetary support for their contributions to the industry and digital society.

Appwrite, a premier open-source Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform for web, mobile, and application developers, has announced the establishment of its Open Source Software Fund (OSS Fund). Initially, the fund will pay USD 50,000 to open source maintainers whose projects serve as the premise for today’s digital infrastructure but are not compensated as such.

Appwrite’s yearly OSS fund will contribute to the industry-wide need to assist open source maintainers, further technological innovation, and create awareness for a diversified set of solutions for maintaining open source development. Each year, the fund amount will be reviewed to best meet the community’s needs.

Applications are accepted on an annual basis and are open to apply now.

“I know what it’s like to spend long hours in front of your computer, putting your blood, sweat and tears into something you love, and that also benefits thousands or even millions of people worldwide,” said Eldad Fux, Founder and amp; CEO of Appwrite. “I’ve known that we would use some of Appwrite’s success and investment to support other developers and maintainers just like me, to give back and look forward. We hope our contribution can make a difference.”

One of the biggest concerns in today’s technology ecosystem is the sustainability of open source developers and maintainers. Open source software forms 70-90%  of all software and, thus, provides the underpinning of our digital society. Still, many developers and maintainers, who work on the most critical projects embedded across networks and products, often remain unpaid or underpaid. There have been numerous debates on how these individuals can be supported, and several solutions have been proposed.

Appwrite is taking a step ahead of these debates to take action for maintainers by elevating their work and awarding monetary support for their contributions to the industry and digital society.

“Funding and sustaining open source software for decades to come will require many solutions. What Appwrite and Eldad are doing could be the start of a trend, where we see developers supporting developers to build a better, more equitable and sustainable open-source ecosystem,” said Chip Hazard, General Partner, Flybridge.

Eldad Fux, Appwrite founder, began his development career by offering support to open source software projects and being a member of open source communities. Appwrite was started by him as a side project and was built from scratch and started as a BaaS product.

Fux currently supports the open source philosophy by focusing on a fully open source platform and giving back to the community in various ways, including the Appwrite OSS fund.

“Open source powers most of the World’s modern-day infrastructure, from mobile to web, cars and even missions beyond this planet. This is only sustainable by the community’s generosity, time, and efforts. However, this could be improved by the support of more companies and organizations to prevent community members’ burnout,” said Eddie Jaoude, Developer and Creator of EddieHub.