Mitch Kapor To Leave Open Source Applications Foundation

Longtime computer industry luminary Mitch Kapor is leaving the Open Source Applications Foundation, which he founded and supported financially, according to an announcement on the Foundation's Web site.

"Our goal going forward is to modify our organization and our funding model to grow into a publicly supported community project, not propelled by one individual," said Katie Capps Parlante in an OSAF blog. She added that she will lead the next phase of the Chandler Project, as the OSAF often calls itself.

Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development Corp., plans to leave the organization, but will provide "transitional financial assistance" for OSAF through 2008.

Parlante said the OSAF's paid staff will drop to 10 from its current staffing team of 27. The Chandler Project, which whimsically takes its name from the late mystery writer Raymond Chandler, unveiled an important release of its Chandler Server earlier this month. The operation targets the personal information management market with a free software suite; Chandler released an early version of its desktop, server, and Web collaboration software last September.

"The next phase of the project is about growing the user base, building the community, and diversifying our funding sources," said Parlante. "Strategically, we find ourselves at a crossroads. The new Chandler team will continue to address the needs of informal groups sharing calendars and managing projects together. We have several options before us and will be ironing out a more focused plan for the next phase."

Kapor founded Lotus in 1982 and its software helped fuel the PC revolution. IBM later acquired Lotus and it remains an important IBM unit. In recent years, Kapor has been a major promoter of open source software. He is on the board of the Mozilla Foundation.