February, 3rd, 2015 marks the 17th anniversary of the Open Source Initiative (OSI).

To celebrate their anniversary, and also to promote their commitment to a representative, community-driven organization, the OSI is launching their first ever Individual Membership Drive this year. The goal is to sign up 2,398 members in celebration of their founding on 2/3/98.

Joomla!, through Open Source Matters (OSM), is an Affiliate Member of OSI.

The Open Source Initiative® (OSI)

• California 501(c)3 non-profit, raising awareness and adoption of open source software (OSS) through advocacy, education and building bridges between communities.
• The pragmatic community organization that understands how developers, businesses, governments, and open source interact.
• Steward of the Open Source Definition, globally recognized body for approving OSS licenses.

Individual Membership

OSI Individual Members play a role in the organization by being able to nominate and vote for OSI Board Directors, as well as run for a Director seat themselves.

You can find out more about the benefits of becoming a Member of the Open Source Initiative (OSI), and how to join, at: opensource.org/members

Spreading the word

You can help spread the word about the OSI Individual Membership drive, by posting about it, and encouraging your friends to join. Use the #for2398 hashtag when Tweeting.

Read more about the OSI 2014 Operational & Organizational Highlights, Community Engagement, Mission & Mandate, Sponsorship Oportunities, and how they use those funds, in their recently releaced Open Source Initiative 2014 Annual Report.

Happy Birthday to The Open Source Initiative (OSI) from the Joomla! community.