Google Open Source Programs Office
The Google Open Source Programs Office brings all the value of open source to Google and all the resources of Google to open source. It manages Google's involvement in the open source ecosystem, focusing on sustainability, security, and mentorship while enabling Google to build on open source technologies and share Google-developed technology under open licenses.
Founding Story
The Google Open Source Programs Office was established in 2004, making it one of the first OSPOs in the industry. Initially, OSPO focused on enabling Google to build on open source technologies and share Google-developed technology under open licenses. The office was created to manage Google's relationship with the open source community and ensure proper license compliance. Chris DiBona, who founded the office, changed the name to 'Open Source Programs Office' shortly after Christine Peterson coined the term.
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Leadership
Founders
Chris DiBona
Founded Google's Open Source Programs Office in August 2004. Served as Director of Open Source at Google from 2004 to January 2023 when he was laid off during Alphabet workforce reductions. Previously: Editor at Slashdot, Co-founder of Damage Studios, Associate in Google Ventures. Education: B.S. in computer science from George Mason University, M.S. in software engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Co-editor of 'Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution' and 'Open Sources 2.0'. Currently works in the office of the CTO at Microsoft.
Executive Team
Stephanie Taylor
Program Manager, Google Summer of Code Lead
Program Manager at Google in the Open Source Program Office since 2011. Has led the Google Summer of Code program since 2015 and previously led Google Code-in until its end in 2020. Over 25 years of experience managing client relations in tech.
amanda casari
Staff Developer Relations Engineer / Manager
Developer Relations Engineering Manager in the Open Source Programs Office. Leads the Contributor Experience and Open Source + AI teams. Engineer and researcher who has worked in many technical disciplines for over 20 years.
Business Model
Revenue Model
The Google Open Source Programs Office is a cost center within Google/Alphabet that does not generate direct revenue. It operates as an internal team that provides strategic value by: (1) Managing license compliance and open source usage across Google; (2) Building goodwill and relationships with the open source community; (3) Attracting developer talent through visibility and engagement; (4) Supporting the open source projects that Google's products depend on; (5) Establishing industry standards and best practices through leadership. Funding comes from Google/Alphabet's overall budget.
Target Markets
- Open source software developers and maintainers
- Pre-university and university students interested in open source
- Technical writers working on documentation
- Security researchers focused on open source vulnerabilities
- Open source project foundations and organizations
- Companies seeking to establish or improve their open source practices
- Introducing new developers to open source software development
- Improving security and stability of critical open source projects
- Supporting technical documentation in open source communities
- Protecting open source project identities through trademark management
- Enabling companies to properly use and contribute to open source
- Reducing barriers to open source participation
- Over 1,000 open source organizations have participated in Google Summer of Code
- 225+ open source projects use OSS-Fuzz
- Hundreds of organizations supported through sponsorships and grants
- Notable projects supported include: Linux kernel, Apache Foundation projects, Python Software Foundation, NumFOCUS projects, Cloud Native Computing Foundation projects, Eclipse Foundation projects, and many others
History & Milestones
Google Open Source Peer Bonus Program ended in its final year, giving awards to 130 non-Alphabet contributors
Major layoffs affecting OSPO team, including founder Chris DiBona and Jeremy Allison (co-creator of Samba)
Donated IstioMesh to CNCF; applied for Kubeflow to become CNCF incubating project
Released over 2,000 new open source projects; mentored 1,190 students through GSoC; supported 28 projects via Season of Docs; awarded over 200 Open Source Peer Bonuses; pledged $100 million to open source security
Founded Open Usage Commons to manage open source trademarks
