The Linux Foundation announced on Thursday a fund to support and organize open projects to build Chromium-based browsers. The Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers now accepts new members.
“With the launch of the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers, we are taking another step forward in empowering the open source community,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, in a press release. “This project will provide much-needed funding and development support for open development of projects within the Chromium ecosystem.”
Many browsers, including Arc, Microsoft Edge, and Opera, use Google’s Chromium as their underlying infrastructure.
Interested potential partners can apply with the Linux Foundation.
What is the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers group?
The purpose of the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers group is to “provide a neutral space where industry leaders, academia, developers, and the broader open source community can work together to support projects within the Chromium ecosystem,” the Linux Foundation wrote. As such, the group will “remove barriers to innovation, expand adoption, and ensure that projects within the Chromium ecosystem receive the resources they need to thrive.”
Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Opera have endorsed the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers. The initiative will be a “neutral space” for “industry leaders, academia, developers, and the broader open source community,” the Linux Foundation said.
Nothing will change about existing Chromium products as a result of this announcement, according to the Linux Foundation. Instead, the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers will be a new group within the Linux Foundation, following an “open governance model,” the foundation said. In addition, a technical advisory committee will shape the development of the initiative and align it with the needs of the larger Chromium community.
“This initiative aligns with our commitment to the web platform through meaningful and positive contributions, engagement in collaborative engineering, and partnerships with the community to achieve the best outcome for everyone using the web,” said Meghan Perez, vice president of Microsoft Edge, in the press release.
SEE: The U.K.’s competition regulator probed Apple in November regarding the dominance of the WebKit browser engine required on iOS.
“With the incredible support of the Linux Foundation, we believe the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers is an important opportunity to create a sustainable platform to support industry leaders, academia, developers, and the broader open source community in the continued development and innovation of the Chromium ecosystem,” said Parisa Tabriz, vice president of Chrome, in the press release.
Google will continue to contribute to Chromium
Chromium was released alongside proprietary browser Chrome in 2008 as an open-source framework option.
The creation of the Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers comes within months of the U.S. government ordering Google to divest from Chrome to prevent a monopoly. While the Supporters initiative is not linked directly to the divestiture, it does provide some structure for Chromium going forward.
Google makes the majority (about 94 percent) of contributions to Chromium, according to a Jan. 9 blog from Chrome. “Others” and the open source cooperative Igalia are distant second and third top contributors.
“While we have no intention of reducing this investment, we continue to welcome others stepping up to invest more,” the blog states.
Those contributions include running thousands of servers and responding to hundreds of bugs per day, Chrome said.
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