Your next contribution could help more people.
If a project adopts Purpose Source, the software you help build can become a way to support public-benefit causes. You keep the copyright in your work.
Bring the idea to your project.
You do not need to own a repository to suggest a direction. A thoughtful issue or discussion is a good place to start. Here is wording you can adapt:
Could we explore Purpose Source for future releases?
It is a published licence (Purpose Source License 1.0) that connects use by larger organisations with funding for public-benefit causes. Contributors keep their copyright, and each release becomes Apache-2.0 after four years.
I’d like us to look at whether it fits our users, our existing licences and our community before making a decision.
Purpose Source: a guide for projects
Your work stays yours.
You continue through the project’s usual pull requests and reviews. Purpose Source does not require copyright assignment to the Association.
The proposed contribution sign-off records your authority to submit the work and the licence terms that apply. Its final form remains part of the legal review.
Read the sign-off and its limits →Check the fit first
Purpose Source License 1.0 was published on 2026-10-01. The public registry opens with the first registered projects; waivers come with the platform’s claim process. Existing copyright and employer policies still matter. An employer that requires OSI-approved licences may not permit contributions under this model.
The project should discuss that trade-off openly. Supporting the idea does not commit you or the project to a licence change.
Choose whether to be named.
Public contributor identity and contribution certificates are opt-in. You can also object to attribution processing through the published privacy process.