Funding Open Source DNS

The DNS Fund exists to help maintain these critical projects. (Image xkcd 2347; CC BY-NC 2.5)

One of our founders, Pete Stevens, has joined the expert advisory panel for the Nominet DNS Fund. Nominet are intending to distribute £370,000 to open source DNS projects.

The fund has a very simple goal, to improve security and sustainability of open source DNS projects. The means is similarly simple, make it as easy and straightforward as possible for open source critical infrastructure components to access needed funds.

We’re excited to be able to help to steer the fund. One thing that attracted us was the implementation goal of ‘Minimum Viable Bureaucracy’; the application form must be short and it must be simple to complete. The fund wants to fund people and organisations that are good at writing and maintaining software, not specialist form fillers. An individual applying has to answer eight questions and a maximum of 2000 words. We enthusiastically encourage answers that are short and to the point (not least because Pete will have to read them!).

We’re also overjoyed that the fund can consider ‘boring’ applications. Maintaining a project or bringing more developers in to ensure long term sustainability of a project are things that are in scope. The fund does not require new features and new code; fixing and improving existing code is fine. The fund will also be able to support projects that are dependencies of DNS projects, as well as those which directly relate to DNS.

The application form is here. Please share with any project that is in scope and would benefit from funding.