When we started the ROS project back in 2007, our goal was to build an open robotics software platform for students, engineers, entrepreneurs, and anyone else to freely use and modify. In 2012, we took the next step by founding OSRF as an independent non-profit organization to pursue that mission, with responsibility for both ROS and Gazebo. Today, we see these tools used worldwide to teach concepts, solve problems, and build products in ways that we couldn't have imagined at the beginning.
We couldn't be happier with the size and breadth of the collaborative community that we've built together, and we're grateful to everyone in the community for the roles that you've played.
You won't be surprised to hear that it costs money to run OSRF. We employ a small team of amazing individuals, we operate an office in the Bay Area, and we run a suite of online services on which the community depends.
Since our founding, OSRF has enjoyed generous financial support from government agencies and private industry, for which we're very grateful. We hope and anticipate that that support will continue in the future. But now, as we approach the end of OSRF's third year, we're trying something new: asking you, our users, for support.
If you rely on ROS and/or Gazebo in your lab, your startup company, your weekend projects, or elsewhere, please consider donating to OSRF. Your donation will support our people and infrastructure so that we can spend (even) more time developing and maintaining the software and services on which you depend.
As one example, if everyone who visits the ROS wiki between now and the end of the year donates just $2, we'll have our costs covered for next year to manage, update, and host all of our online services, including the wiki. Donations in any amount are welcome. Give more, and we can do more.
Thank you for your support.
Contributions to the Open Source Robotics Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, will be used at its discretion for its charitable purposes. Such donations are tax-deductible in the U.S. to the extent permitted by law.
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