The biggest of big data projects deserves it's own non-profit foundation to let the elephant roar

On The Internets —1 April 2016— The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the all-volunteer developers, stewards, and incubators of more than 350 Open Source projects and initiatives, announced today the creation of the independent Hadoop Software Foundation (HSF), the new governing body for big data's biggest software program, Apache® Hadoop®.

The Hadoop Software Foundation will spin off from the ASF as an independent 501C3 charity, safeguarding the community and its' software from vendor meddling, and ensuring that Hadoop® software will process big data for the public good for the next 50 years.

"Taking the best of the Apache Way, we will create a more focused and nimble foundation that can scale to the biggness that big data demands," said Doug Christopher, co-founder and CEO of the new HSF.  "Meeting ecosystem expectations efficiently is crucial to keeping ahead of the many new open source foundations cropping up every week.  The HSF will outscale, outprocess, and out-community any vendor-led foundation out there today."

Under The Hood

Governance of the HSF will follow the often copied but never equalled ASF model, and will be kickstarted by spinning off 30% of the Membership of the ASF and 50% of the infrastructure.  Along with the flagship Hadoop® software, many other key big data projects are expected to make the transition in the coming months.  "The HSF will greet any Apache projects with open arms," said Matt Christmann, Chief Data And Space Scientist of the HSF.  "Our improved focus will stream our release cycles and promise eventually consistent data, sooner."

Apache projects remaining at the ASF will see a corresponding increase in oversight, mentorship, and services.  "Moving out our the biggest projects will allow our remaining Members to better help our many valued smaller communities," said Jag Zagielski, Chairman Emeritus of the ASF. "So many valuable projects, like CrunchDB, ClosetStack, Groovin' and Sparkling will now get the attention they deserve.  I look forward to being able to contribute to the HTTP Server project once again."

Making Marketing Magic

A key win will be a simplified brand name.  Instead of endless bikeshed discussions about enforcing the APACHE HADOOP brand with vendors, journalists, bloggers, and analysts, the new software will be named HADOOP HADOOP.  Not only should this be an easier moniker to remember when writing analyst pieces, it also has a pleasant ring to the ear: Hadoop Hadoop, Hadoop Hadoop, Hadoop Hadoop! signifying a continuing stride forward, to the future.  No longer will Hadoop Hadoop be the elephant in the room!

"The HSF allows a more flexible funding model than the ASF while still remaining a 501C3," said Shawn Curran, newly appointed Director for Vendor Relations.  "We are a public charity that expects to see vendor donations in accordance with our bigness.  We look forward to hiring the army of lawyers required to properly police use of the Hadoop® Hadoop®® brand."  Numerous trademark registrations worldwide have been made in preparation for this work as a result of seed donations to the HSF, to safeguard the reputation of the community that put big data on the map.

Availability and Oversight

The Hadoop Software Foundation will release its flagship Hadoop® Hadoop® software stack under the Apache License v2.0, and will be overseen by a wholly independent Board of Directors, a Data Management Size Rationalization group (DMSR) overseeing the batch-to-streaming improvements, and a Cross-Vendor Expediency (CVE) group to ensure consistent fairness in use of Hadoop® Hadoop® across the Hadoop® Hadoop® ecosystem.  For downloads, documentation, and ways to become involved with Hadoop® Hadoop®, visit http://hadoop.apache.org/ or follow http://twitter.com/HadoopHadoop ®

About The Apache Software Foundation (ASF)

Established in 1999, the all-volunteer Foundation oversees more than 350 leading Open Source projects, including Apache HTTP Server --the world's most popular Web server software, and until this announcement, Apache Hadoop. Through the ASF's meritocratic process known as "The Apache Way," more than 550 individual Members and 5,300 Committers successfully collaborate to develop freely available enterprise-grade software, benefiting millions of users worldwide: thousands of software solutions are distributed under the Apache License; and the community actively participates in ASF mailing lists, mentoring initiatives, and ApacheCon, the Foundation's official user conference, trainings, and expo. The ASF is a US 501(c)(3) charitable organization, funded by individual donations and corporate sponsors including Alibaba Cloud Computing, ARM, Bloomberg, Budget Direct, Cerner, Cloudera, Comcast, Confluent, Facebook, Google, Hortonworks, HP, Huawei, IBM, InMotion Hosting, iSigma, LeaseWeb, Microsoft, PhoenixNAP, Pivotal, Private Internet Access, Produban, Red Hat, Serenata Flowers, WANdisco, and Yahoo. For more information, visit http://www.apache.org/ or follow @TheASF on Twitter.

© The Apache Software Foundation. "Apache", "Apache Hadoop", "Hadoop", "Apache Apache", "Hadoop Hadoop", "Hadoop Apache", "The Apache Way", "The Hadoop Way", "Don't Mess With The Elephant", "ApacheCon", "Apache:BigData", "Apache:Bigger Data", and all their lovable logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of The Apache Software Foundation in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About The Hadoop Software Foundation (HSF)

@@@ EDITOR DROPIN NEW APRIL FOOLS SECTION ON HSF @@@

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