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What are Foundation 'Projects'?

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.

Infrastructure

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 lets the ASF and its projects operate.

The ASF has an Infrastructure team that is responsible for the management and day-to-day system administration and operation of the hardware and code that runs the above services.

For more regarding the Infrastructure team and the Infrastructure President's Committee that governs it, see the Infrastructure webpage.

Incubator

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:

For more regarding the Apache Incubator, see the Incubator website.

Attic

The Apache Attic Project Management Committee -- where discontinued, abandoned, and retired codebases and projects are stored. The Attic preserves project and product 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.

Travel Assistance

The Travel Assistance Committee -- exists to help those who would like to attend face-to-face ApacheCon events, but are unable to do so for financial reasons.

For more regarding Apache Travel Assistance, see the Travel page.

Community Development

The Community Development Project Management Committee -- helps newcomers understand how the ASF works so they gain confidence to participate more directly.

For more regarding Apache Community Development, see the Community site.

Conference Planning

As of 2013, the Conference Planning committee has been dissolved, and various corporate officers and the Community Development group are now responsible for assisting with or approving the running of Apache-related events.

For more regarding Apache conferences, see the Conferences page.

Security

The Security President's Committee -- responsible for handling potential security holes in the software produced by the foundation that might impact our users. Finders of problems contadct this committee before making any problem report available to the public, to allow affected projects to provide fixes in time for the report, thus reducing vulnerability to a minimum.

For more regarding Apache Security, see the Security page.

Legal Affairs

The Legal Affairs Committee -- responsible for 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.

VP, JCP

The JCP officer was responsible for 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.

VP, W3C Relations

The W3C Relations officer -- responsible for liaison between the ASF and the World Wide Web Consortium.

VP, Brand Management

The Brand Management officer -- responsible for trademark licensing and other issues regarding management of the Apache brand on behalf of the foundation.

Read more about Apache Trademark Policies which apply to all Apache software product brands.

VP, Fundraising

The Fundraising officer -- responsible, with their associated officer's committee, for fund-raising on behalf of the ASF.

Read more about Sponsoring, Donating, and how we Thank our sponsors.

VP, Marketing and Publicity

The Marketing and Publicity officer -- responsible for public relations and for press-related issues such as press releases for major ASF events and coordinating the response to requests for interviews.

For more regarding how the ASF handles press inquiries, see our Media and Analyst Relations page.

VP, Finance

The finance officer -- responsible for financial matters, including but not limited to financial planning and management of financial risks.