On Wednesday the Apache Group announced the formation of the
      Apache Software Foundation. The main aim of the foundation is
      to provide a legal framework for Apache and related
      open-source projects such as the recently announced Jakarta initiative.
    
    
      The foundation has been established as a non-profit
      corporation with members and directors taken from the core
      contributors from each project. As the foundation is a legal
      entity it can accept donations and provide financial support
      to the projects as well as being able to deal with legal
      issues such as exposure and protection of intellectual
      property.
    
    
      The formation of the foundation does not mean that Apache has
      become commercial. The Apache web server will remain
      open-source under the existing license.
    
    
      The 
      full press release is available from the Apache site. The
      www.apache.org home page
      has also been redesigned to give full details of the new
      foundation as well as each of the current projects.