What does it mean to be a member of the Open Source Initiative?
Being part of the OSI means being part of the open source community. OSI Members are people who support the mission of the OSI, which is to educate about and advocate for the benefits of open source and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open source community.
What does the OSI do?
Our goal is to provide a broad meeting place for everyone who shares an interest in open source software, with the continuing aim of strengthening the OSI so that it can more effectively fulfill its goals over the long term.
Having a large global membership base is an excellent way to achieve those goals. We encourage our Supporting and Professional Members to advocate for open source in their communities and organizations. Supporting and Professional Members, combined with OSI Affiliate organizations, can help make the OSI the strongest voice for open source around the world.
Membership Benefits
OSI Supporting and Professional Members enjoy a direct role in defining the direction and identifying the leadership of the OSI. Each year these members may nominate and vote for OSI Board Directors, as well as run for a Director seat themselves. With five members of the Board representing the Supporting and Professional Membership, as a constituent you’re a vital part of the OSI and the open source community.
- Supporting Members
Shape the direction and identify the leadership of the OSI by nominating and voting for the OSI board of directors. They can also run for a Director seat. Five members of the board represent the Supporting membership, and play a vital role in the Open Source community.- Early access to event tickets, workshops, classes, or community-building activities.
- Discounts on services. These currently include:
- 15% off IT Leadership and IT Management training, workshops, and coaching from Hallmentum
- 10% off at Adafruit.com, an Open Source Hardware manufacturer.
- OSI Member pin (please include your mailing address so we can send you your pin). Sorry – shipping within the United States only.
- Professional Members
- All of the benefits above, plus:
- Priority access to meetings and events organized by OSI
- Early access to briefings, whitepapers and other content produced by OSI and its partners
- All of the benefits above, plus:
If you would like to become a member, but the donation is more than you can manage, we have a free Basic Level. Voting privileges are not included at this level.