The Open Source Applications Foundation (OSAF) was a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

founded in 2002 by

Mitch Kapor Mitchell David Kapor ( ; born November 1, 1950) is an American entrepreneur best known for his work as an application developer in the early days of the personal computer software industry, later founding Lotus, where he was instrumental in deve ...

whose purpose was to effect widespread adoption of

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...

History

Founded in 2002 by

to effect widespread adoption of

. The 2007 book ''Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software'' documented the struggles of OSAF in building an open source calendar application,

Chandler Chandler or The Chandler may refer to: * Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles * Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships Arts ...

. In January 2008 Mitch Kapor ended his involvement with the foundation, stepped down from the board, and provided transitional funding. In the restructure that followed, Katie Capps Parlante became acting president. There were at one tim
eleven employees
with Sheila Mooney as president.

Projects

– a note-to-self organiser (

personal information management Personal information management (PIM) is the study of the activities people perform in order to acquire or create, store, organize, maintain, retrieve, and use information items such as documents (paper-based and digital), web pages, and email mes ...

(PIM) software) designed for personal and small-group task management and calendaring. Chandler Desktop and Chandler Hub (an instance of Chandler Server
Cosmo
) are complementary. Chandler is written in

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

and runs on

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. * Cosmo (Chandler Server) – a Java-based content/calendar sharing server with a built-in rich web application client. From 2005, OSAF participated in

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

's Summer of Code programs by allowing several interns to work on OSAF projects during the summer.

OSAF Funds

Major contributors to OSAF included: *

: US$5 million *

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitts ...

: US$98,000 *

: US$1.5 million *

Common Solutions Group Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

: US$1.25 million

OSAF Mission

The mission of the OSAF was stated this way: # Create and gain wide adoption of open source application software of uncompromising quality. # Carry forward the vision of

Vannevar Bush Vannevar Bush ( ; March 11, 1890 – June 28, 1974) was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, who during World War II headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), through which almost all wartime ...

Doug Engelbart Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly ...

, and

Ted Nelson Theodor Holm Nelson (born June 17, 1937) is an American pioneer of information technology, philosopher, and sociologist. He coined the terms ''hypertext'' and ''hypermedia'' in 1963 and published them in 1965. Nelson coined the terms ''transcl ...

of the computer as a medium for communication, collaboration, and coordination. # Design a new application to manage personal information including notes, mail, tasks, appointments and events, contacts, documents and other personal resources. # Enable sharing with colleagues, friends and family. In particular, meet the unique and under-served needs of small group collaboration. # Demonstrate that open source software *can* serve a general audience in the consumer market. # Offer a choice of platforms and full interoperability amongst Windows, Macintosh, and Linux versions. # Leverage our resources by using an open source model of development.

External links

Open Source Applications Foundation Site

The Chandler Project Website
Free software project foundations in the United States {{org-stub