Drupal Association Fortifies Governance to Safeguard Community Assets and Tackle Maker/Taker Issue

The Drupal Association has reinforced its governance model to protect community-contributed assets and address the longstanding Maker/Taker problem in the open-source ecosystem. Tim Doyle, CEO of the Drupal Association, detailed these measures in a recent blog post titled "Governance in the Drupal Ecosystem," emphasizing the organization's commitment to transparency, independence, and equitable contribution.

Dries Buytaert, the founder and project lead of Drupal, has established a governance system that distributes authority and prevents unilateral decisions by any single entity. He formed the core committer team to oversee technical aspects and co-founded the Drupal Association to manage non-technical areas. This structure promotes a transparent, collaborative approach to managing Drupal's development and community engagement.

The Drupal Association, a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 2008, controls critical components of the Drupal ecosystem, including Drupal.org and its infrastructure. This control ensures that Drupal remains free from commercial pressures and maintains a fair playing field for all contributors. The Association manages services such as the database of Drupal.org users, code repositories, and communication platforms like Drupal Slack and DrupalCons.

Addressing the Maker/Taker problem where companies benefit from open-source projects without contributing back, the Drupal Association has restructured its Drupal Certified Partner program to focus on companies that actively give back to the community. The goal is to incentivize a culture of contribution within organizations that work with Drupal, providing the project with resources to innovate and grow. This initiative has more than doubled the number of Drupal Certified Partners in the past 15 months.

A key aspect of Drupal's governance is the separation of powers concerning the "Drupal" trademark and the control over community assets. While Dries Buytaert owns the "Drupal" trademark and domain names like "drupal.org," he has granted the Drupal Association an exclusive license to use them. This arrangement allows the Association to support the Drupal project and community while ensuring that any software bearing the Drupal name aligns with the project's vision.

Importantly, trademark ownership does not allow Dries to block any person or organization from using any component of Drupal core or modules housed on Drupal.org. Those decisions are at the sole discretion of the Drupal Association. To date, the Association has exercised this authority sparingly, primarily to protect and safeguard the website and its content from attacks and misuse.

Parallels with Challenges in the WordPress Community

The Drupal Association's proactive approach comes at a time when other open-source communities, such as WordPress, are grappling with governance and control issues. In the WordPress ecosystem, disputes have arisen between key stakeholders, including Automattic, the company founded by WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg, and hosting companies like WP Engine over trademark ownership and the rights to community-contributed assets.

These conflicts highlight the complexities of centralized control in open-source projects and underscore the importance of transparent governance. By ensuring that no single individual can unilaterally restrict access to core components or community modules, Drupal aims to prevent conflicts of interest and maintain the open nature of the project. The Drupal Association's control over infrastructure and its commitment to equitable contribution serve as safeguards against potential misuse of authority.

A Focus on the Future

Looking ahead, the Drupal Association is focused on supporting Drupal's adoption through marketing and creating sustainable revenue streams. Initiatives like the Starshot Initiative aim to propel the project forward, addressing tough questions that confront many open-source projects. The strengthened governance measures position Drupal to continue thriving as one of the largest independent open-source projects in the world, ensuring that it remains a vibrant and collaborative community.

About the Drupal Association

The Drupal Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering and supporting the Drupal software project, the community, and its growth. With a full-time team of professionals worldwide, the Association manages Drupal.org and organizes events to unite and grow the Drupal community.