- GitHub wants the EU to create a sovereign tech -fund for us -maintenance
- Microsoft has not yet committed to any contribution
- GitHub says OSS is crucial infrastructure, like roads
Microsoft-owned Developer Platform GitHub calls on the European Union to create a publicly funded SOVEREIGN TECH Fund in support of Open Source Software (OSS) maintenance.
GitHub director of developer policy Felix Reda explained in a blog post that Open Source remains underfunded and that the public sector could be involved to help support the development financially.
The proposal is based on a study commissioned by GitHub and conducted by the Open Forum Europe, Fraunhofer ISI and the European University Institute, and describes open source software a critical digital infrastructure on which economies and communities depend.
GitHub wants the EU to finance open source development
Reda, along with the research, noticed Open Source remains underfunded compared to traditional, physical infrastructure as roads, despite contributing 65-95 billion euros annually to the EU economy and up to $ 8.8 trillion globally.
The study showed that one in three open source software -Meeters are unpaid, with another out of three who are unable to live exclusively from their open source work.
As such, GitHub proposes that the EU add $ 350 million. EUR to its budget to finance open source software maintenance. National governments and industries should also contribute to funding, GitHub believes, although the Microsoft-owned company has not volunteered.
GitHub identified five key investment areas, including: Identification of critical EU OSS dependencies; Investing in us -maintenance; Financing of the OSS security improvements; Supporting project improvements; and strengthening the overall OSS ecosystem.
Supports Github’s argument, Mercedes-Benz Chief Software Officer Magnus Östberg wrote: “Without sustainable financing and support, it is quite predictable that increasingly open source software projects will not receive care and control suitable for software for such criticism.”
With the first legislative proposals to the EU budget “HIT[ting] Tables “For the Europe Parliament and the national governments of the Council of Ministers, the GitHub calls on society to express their support for SOVEREIGN TECH Fund.
