Platform.sh becomes a Lead Sponsor of DDEV!

May 27, 2022 3 min read

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Platform.sh marketing illustration, a collage of stylized website elements interspersed with branch and deployment references

Although many of you know this, I wanted to make a formal announcement of some great news. Platform.sh has stepped up to become a lead sponsor of the DDEV open-source project!

  • Platform is committed to the long-term viability of the project and to encourage development of a diverse group of contributors and co-maintainers.
  • Platform is sponsoring me (Randy Fay) as an employee by providing a salary and benefits package.
  • Platform has acquired the DDEV trademark, meaning that it’s safe and we won’t ever be forced to change the name of the project, tool, or GitHub organization.

This is fantastic for the DDEV community because it’s a great step toward long-term viability for the project.

Here are some answers to questions you might have:

  • Has Platform.sh “acquired” DDEV? No, Platform has put itself in position to be the lead sponsor of this open source project for the benefit of its community.
  • Will Platform be influencing the direction of development? Yes, all sponsors and contributors get strategic influence on a project when they provide resources. Plans this year include improving Platform integration in DDEV and explicit support for python-based projects.
  • Will integration to other hosting providers be removed? No, the existing Acquia, Pantheon, rsync, Git, and localfile integrations will continue alongside the Platform.sh integration, and the community may contribute and improve other integration.
  • What about my contributions to DDEV through GitHub Sponsors? I (Randy) do not personally receive any of the funds donated via GitHub Sponsors because Platform is paying me a salary. Community donations via GitHub Sponsors remain very important and will be used for infrastructure costs and hopefully to support additional developer(s) and initiatives in the future. Full details about current and planned investments are in the Budget Committee Meeting Notes.
  • How can my organization sponsor DDEV? There are several ways:
    • A number of companies have financially sponsored specific features already, and there are lots of opportunities for the future. This can be done via GitHub Sponsors or other financial arrangements are easy (invoicing, etc.)
    • We’d love to see the team grow and have at least one full co-maintainer, so there’s lots of room. An organization could sponsor a developer or co-maintainer via financial support or by allowing an employee to work on the project as a part of their regular job.
    • DDEV needs help with maintenance and improvement of docs, marketing outreach and loads of other things. If your organization has capabilities in these areas, it would be lovely to see them put to work for DDEV.
  • What does Platform expect from DDEV? Platform will collaborate on the roadmap, but is interested in an even-stronger integration between DDEV and the Platform.sh hosting product. It will also be advocating for Python/Django support and stronger Node.js support.

The bottom line here is that the DDEV project has an assured future and is getting stronger all the time both in terms of the community and its contributions and also financially, which is important for the long-term. Thanks Platform!

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