OpenLogic by Perforce: Why we support OSI

This week, we’re pleased to spotlight OSI sponsor, OpenLogic by Perforce, and learn why open source is important to their organization.

OpenLogic by Perforce offers technical support and services for over 450 open source packages through guaranteed service level agreements (SLAs), and provides direct access to highly experienced Enterprise Architects, professional services, and training.

We asked OpenLogic by Perforce to share the organization’s intrinsic ties to open source, its reasons for supporting the Open Source Initiative, and its hopes for the open source movement. Here’s what they said:

OpenLogic was founded in 1998, the same year as OSI, by Rod Cope, who remains involved as Perforce’s CTO. It started as a solution to the need for technical support for the new open source technologies that organizations were starting to adopt. There was nothing close to the support available for open source as there was for proprietary software.

From distributing open source software packages back in 2003 (on CD!) to contributing to open source projects, maintaining CentOS distributions, and providing patching for end-of-life open source software, OpenLogic has always been directly involved with a variety of open source projects and communities.

We share with OSI the principles of collaboration and open source advocacy. Most recently, a collaboration with OSI resulted in a groundbreaking survey and report on the usage of open source software, the 2022 State of Open Source report.  In it, we gathered valuable insights on the rapid rate of change in open source technologies, how organizations are using Open Source, and the support challenges organizations are facing when using today’s open source software.

Open Logic by Perforce supports OSI because we believe in its mission to protect the Open Source Definition. With today’s constantly changing open source environment, challenges to the definition of open source, and a transition to new environments for open source software such as serverless computing and artificial intelligence, it’s critical to support OSI and its global advocacy and stewardship for open source.

Like OSI, OpenLogic by Perforce has been a vendor-neutral, vendor-agnostic, and unbiased organization for over 20 years. We believe in collaboration with open source communities and the need to continue educating the world on the proper use of open source software.

As shown by the 2022 State of Open Source report, there is plenty of room for improvement in the OSI’s mission to educate and advocate for open source. Only 15% of organizations have an Open Source Program Office, and only 13% of organizations have a legal team familiar with open source licenses.

We are optimistic that the growing support of OSI will continue an ascending trajectory, and the great work being done by OSI and its affiliates will continue to deliver positive results.