Software in the Public Interest

WorldBrand briefing

AI supplement

Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Software in the Public Interest (abbreviated SPI) is a United States registered 501(c) non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the development, legal protection, and free public distribution of open source software and open hardware resources, with no commercial or profit-oriented objectives.

Key moments

1997Officially incorporated as a non-profit, with core founding missions to provide free public software systems, run training programs for open technology use, and offer administrative support to independent open projects.
Early 2000sEstablished itself as a leading fiscal sponsor for well-known open source projects including Debian, PostgreSQL, and LibreOffice, managing donations, trademark assets, and compliance work for these communities.
2010s to 2026Expanded its support scope to cover open hardware initiatives, updated governance rules to add more community representative seats, and streamlined administrative processes for new sponsored project applications.

Neutral steward advantage for community projects

Unlike many corporate-backed open source foundations that carry implicit alignment with commercial stakeholder interests, SPI operates fully independent of corporate ownership or mandatory revenue targets, making it a trusted choice for volunteer-led projects that want to preserve full community control of their assets and strategic direction.

Reduced barriers for small public interest tech teams

By absorbing overhead costs for legal registration, tax filing, and accounting work, SPI eliminates the burden for small, distributed volunteer teams that would otherwise lack the resources to set up and maintain their own independent non-profit legal structure, directly supporting more niche, public good-focused open projects to launch and reach global audiences.

Preservation of early free software movement norms

SPI prioritizes full public transparency for all its operations, with published board meeting minutes, public eligibility requirements for sponsored projects, and no closed-door decision making, which upholds the original public-interest ethos of the free software movement that emerged before widespread commercial adoption of open source tools in the 2000s.

Overview

Software in the Public Interest, Inc.

type	501(c)(3)
key people	Michael Schultheiss (President) Jonatas L. Nogueira (Vice President)‡R1R‡
founded date	June 16, 1997
location	New York City, United States
fields	Software
revenue	$723,853 (2020) $522,719 (2021) $485,337 (2022)‡R2R‡
expenses	$341,298 (2020) $413,172 (2021) $546,645 (2022)‡R2R‡

Software in the Public Interest

WorldBrand briefing

Neutral steward advantage for community projects

Reduced barriers for small public interest tech teams

Preservation of early free software movement norms

Associated projects

See also

External links

References