Community-led development "The Apache Way"
To support our hundreds of Apache software project communities, the Apache Software Foundation has created several committees with a Foundation wide scope and each with their own specific part to play. These committees include:
The ASF has also created a number of Vice President officer roles with a foundation wide scope in specific policy areas:
The overview of the corporate governance of the ASF explains the reporting structure and authority of these committees and officers. Importantly, while many of these positions create ASF-wide policy, Apache project PMCs each report directly to the Board, not to any specific officer or committee.
A full listing of ASF officers is available.
The ASF does not have offices or buildings, it's a virtual entity that exists only on the internet. Its only physical existence is the technical infrastructure that enables it to operate.
The ASF has an Infrastructure team that is responsible for the management and day-to-day system administration and operation of the various hardware that runs the above services.
For more regarding the Infrastructure team and the Infrastructure President's Committee that governs it, see the Infrastructure webpage.
The Incubator Project Management Committee is the entry path into ASF for projects and codebases wishing to become part of the Foundation's efforts. All code donations from external organisations and existing external projects wishing to join Apache enter through the Incubator.
The Apache Incubator has two primary goals:
Ensure all donations are in accordance with ASF legal standards
Develop new communities that adhere to the ASF's guiding principles
For more regarding Apache Incubator, see the Incubator website.
The Apache Attic Project Management Committee -- where discontinued, abandoned, and retired codebases and projects are stored. The Attic preserves the information for posterity, reference, and potential future re-activation, while keeping it clearly distinct from active work.
For more regarding the Apache Attic, see the Attic website.
The Travel Assistance Committee -- exists to help those that would like to attend ApacheCon events, but are unable to do so for financial reasons.
For more regarding Apache Travel Assistance, see the Travel page.
The Community Development Project Management Committee -- is focused on helping newcomers understand how the ASF works and giving them then confidence to participate more directly.
For more regarding Apache Community Development, see the Community site.
Note that as of 2013, the Conference Planning committee has been dissolved, and various corporate officers and the Community Development group are now responsible for assisting or approving running Apache-related events.
For more regarding Apache conferences, see the Conferences page.
The Security President's Committee -- responsible for the handling of potential security holes in the software produced by the foundation that might impact our users. It gets contacted by the finders of the problems before the problem report is made available to the public, to allow the projects to provide a fix in time for the report, thus reducing vulnerability to a minimum.
For more regarding Apache Security, see the Security page.
The Legal Affairs Committee -- responsible for the legal issues associated with licensing and license compatibilities and for the revision of the Apache Software License.
For more information or questions, see the Legal page.
The JCP officer was responsible for the liaison between the ASF and the Java Community Process (the ASF was a member of the JCP Executive Committee).
As of February 2012 the ASF is no longer represented at the JCP.
For more regarding the ASF and the JCP, see our JCP page.
The W3C Relations officer -- responsible for the liaison between the ASF and the World Wide Web Consortium.
The Brand Management officer -- responsible for trademark licensing and other issues regarding management of the Apache brand aspects of the foundation.
Read more about Apache Trademark Policies which apply to all Apache software product brands.
The Fundraising officer -- responsible with their associated officer's committee for fund raising aspects at the ASF.
Read more about Sponsoring, Donating, and how we Thank our sponsors.
The Marketing and Publicity officer -- responsible for public relations and for the press-related issues such as press releases for major ASF events or dispatching requests for interviews.
For more regarding how the ASF handles press inquiries, see our Media and Analyst Relations page.
The finance officer -- responsible for financial matters, including but not limited to financial planning and management of financial risks.