In support of Python: an open letter from Sourcefabric
Our developers are a passionate bunch - when they found out that the Python Software Foundation (PSF) was having trademarking issues, they were unanimous in their response - we need to help out.
We had issues with this ourselves with Airtime (see our response here). We deal with confusion around this on a daily basis. While it looks like we'll outlast the newcomers, it's not an ideal situation.
So, as requested, we've written a letter of support to the PSF. We're publishing it here to raise awareness of their campaign and urge you to support by sharing or writing your own letter.
Dear Python Software Foundation...
Python is central to our work at Sourcefabric. We're an international non-profit that supports independent journalism all over the world. We use open source software in order to allow anyone to start a news organisation, regardless of resources or location.
With over 60 employees in 12 countries and a global community of users and makers, we're one of the biggest in the world doing what we do. Python is at the core of that.
Superdesk is our project that will enable news organisations to manage all of their newsroom activities, including planning, ingest, writing, publication and archiving. It is written in Python and released under GNU GPLv3. At the heart of Superdesk is the Ally-Py rapid development framework, built from the ground up to help media enterprises exploit the world of REST APIs. It's the future of what we do. Our radio software Airtime and book software Booktype also both rely on Python code and applications.
We support (and are supported by) the Python Software Foundation's mission to promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language, and to support and facilitate the growth of a diverse and international community of Python programmers. It's vital to what we do.
Crucial to this is that Python remains clearly identifiable as a project maintained and supported by the PSF. The use of the term 'Python' to describe other software, services or products would be harmful to the Python brand and community. We've experienced issues of trademarking and brand confusion with our own products and it can reduce the impact of many years of good, often volunteer, work.
Sourcefabric fully supports PSF's efforts to protect the intellectual property of Python as a unique project essential to our work.