Apache

The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the United States of America and was formed primarily to:

• provide a foundation for open, collaborative software development projects by supplying hardware, communication, and business infrastructure
• create an independent legal entity to which companies and individuals can donate resources and be assured that those resources will be used for the public benefit
• provide a means for individual volunteers to be sheltered from legal suits directed at the Foundation's projects
• protect the 'Apache' brand, as applied to its software products, from being abused by other organizations