About The Foundation

The OpenAFS Foundation, Inc., was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on May 20, 2013, as a non-profit organization. The Foundation has also obtained national 501C3 non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service.

What We Do

The OpenAFS Foundation adopts a three-fold mission:

  1. To attract and increase the community of OpenAFS users
  2. To foster the OpenAFS community of experts
  3. To nurture and evolve the OpenAFS technology.

We expect our activities for accomplishing our mission to be diverse, but our vision includes that the OpenAFS Foundation facilitate the following:

  1. In order to attract and increase the community of OpenAFS users, The Foundation plans to:

    1. Offer OpenAFS and associated technologies to all members of the general public, individuals and organizations alike, through the use of open source licensing, free of charge
    2. Educate members of the general public in the application of OpenAFS and associated technologies (low-cost conferences, low-cost Best Practices Workshops, free-of-charge ad-hoc consulting/training via the OpenAFS ticketing system, etc.)
    3. Aid, assist, and support other persons and organizations of any kind who wish to learn and/or employ OpenAFS — by gifts, grants, contributions or otherwise — provided that such activities are constant with the foregoing purpose
    4. Seek contributions by persons and organizations of any kind, via gifts, grants, contributions, "in kind" or other donation

  2. In order to foster the OpenAFS community of experts, The Foundation intends to:

    1. Seek contributions in both skills and talent (mentoring, conference presentations, publications, etc.)
    2. Educate members of the OpenAFS community of experts (Hackathons and/or paid internships such as "Google Summer of Code," low-cost conferences, low-cost Best Practices Practices Workshops, etc.)
    3. Model and foster a spirit of cooperation and professionalism (mentoring, free-of-charge mailing list contributions, free-of-charge ad-hoc consulting/training via the OpenAFS ticketing system, etc).

  3. In order to nurture and evolve the OpenAFS technology, The Foundation plans to:

    1. Strengthen OpenAFS, as defined as intellectual property such as interfaces, tools, and libraries
    2. Advance OpenAFS and associated technologies through scientific research and development
    3. Support and participate in protocol standardization

How You Can Help Us

As The OpenAFS Foundation, Inc., is an organization comprises exclusively of volunteers, we are hoping for your active help and support! You may wish to make a donation. If you feel moved to volunteer, a multitude of roles and tasks could benefit from your activities. Should you wish to contribute code, you may do that as well. In the event you are uncertain about how you could contribute, we urge you to view our "ISO" Wish List with postings of tasks that need helping hands.

The OpenAFS Foundation, Inc. is a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation. The Foundation's Pennsylvania Entity Number is 4189117, assigned by the Pennsylvania Department of State's Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations on May 20, 2013. The Foundation's federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) is 46-2902947, assigned by the IRS on June 4, 2013. Official documents and forms defining The Foundation are available on our documents page.

The Foundation has applied to the Internal Revenue Service to obtain national tax-exempt status as a private charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. As of January 2015, the application remains pending. Donations to the Foundation shall become tax deductible upon award of tax-exempt status. Our specific tax returns are publically available for review.

The OpenAFS Foundation also makes use of the common law trademarks "AFS" and "OpenAFS" that are owned by IBM. IBM granted the right to use these trademarks to the five people that comprised The Foundation's Creation Committee on May 10, 2013, and these rights were transferred to The OpenAFS Foundation, Inc. when it was incorporated. The full agreement can be found on our documents page.

Core Foundational Documents

The OpenAFS Foundation was created by putting in place the Foundations basic structure and legal entity requirements. These began with a definition of our mission and vision. The incorporation was executed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on May 20, 2013. Our Articles of Incorporation were submitted to the Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations, on May 17, 2013, and filed by said office on May 20, 2014, as well as given the Entity Number 4189117. In parallel, the Bylaws of the OpenAFS Foundation were adopted by the Board that same day. These By-Laws define the rights and responsibilities of our Directors as well as our Officers and Employees. Furthermore, they define miscellaneous corporate transitions, documents, and general provisions.

The OpenAFS Foundation applied for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) by filing Form SS-4 with the IRS on June 4, 2013. In response, the IRS Department of Treasury officially assigned us the EIN 46-2902947 the same day. While the Foundation was incorporated with the intent of being awarded a non-profit tax status by the IRS, any corporation like ours will start with a for-profit tax status until the IRS has indeed granted a non-profit status. This means that, until and unless awarded a non-profit status by the IRS, corporate tax returns must be filed as for-profit entity. You may view our annual Form 1120, the U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return.

Within the first year of its existence, the Board of Directors of The OpenAFS Foundation, Inc., adopted several policies which we believed to be of crucial importance for clearly reflecting and defining our central values. First and foremost, our Code of Ethics describes the standards set to govern us and to guide our behavior. If you wish to actively participate in the work of The OpenAFS Foundation, we expect you to accept our adopted Code of Ethics and to act accordingly. Furthermore, a Conflict of Interest Policy was adopted by the Board of Directors to safeguard the integrity of the Foundation and its work. In the event that possible or actual breaches of either policy is observed, we encourage everyone to report such alleged breaches immediately to the processes delineated in the Whistleblower Protection Policy by the Board of Directors, which describes the reporting and response procedures, and which explains the measures to be taken by the Foundation for the purpose of protecting the reporting party’s rights.

Since significant parts of the OpenAFS code were developed while AFS was owned by International Business Machines (IBM) for several years, IBM has certain intellectual property and licensing rights. Thus, the OpenAFS Foundation has been engaging in dialogue with IBM and has been forging licensing agreements. In the agreement dated May 10, 2013, IBM granted the five individuals who comprised the Foundation’s Creation Committee the right to use the common law trademarks "AFS" and "OpenAFS" in order for the Committee members to form a non-profit corporation under the Open AFS Foundation name. You may view the full agreement. After the incorporation of the OpenAFS Foundation, these trademark rights were transferred from the Creation Committee to The OpenAFS Foundation, Inc.