The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is going to "evolve" its corporate logo and brand system in response to concerns raised by the group Natives in Tech. In practical terms, Apache is going to stop using its long-standing feather logo and will also consider renaming projects that use indigenous language - presumably thinking about Geronimo. And what about Arrow?

The move will initially see the feather logo retired, with the announcement of what's replacing it expected at the renamed Community Over Code event, formerly known as ApacheCon.

The feather has been the Apache brand image since 1999, but Apache says that

"As a non-Indigenous entity, we acknowledge that it is inappropriate for the Foundation to use indigenous themes or language. We thank Natives in Tech and other members of the broader open source community for bringing this issue to the forefront."

The Natives in Tech original complaint about Apache wasn't about the logo, though. As we reported, back in January 2023, the group described the use of the Apache name as being both ignorant and offensive, and urged the Apache Foundation to change its name.

So far, Apache has stopped short of this step, saying:

"When a name has been in use as long and is as widely used  as ours, the legal, technical, and financial ramifications are broad and deep. A name change effort would have a hefty price tag, would take multiple years to implement, and would have to be led almost entirely by volunteers. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, it is not possible to divert the majority of our funding and volunteers away from our primary mission of providing software for the public good, especially as the foundation prepares for mandatory changes that will come from the Cybersecurity Resilience Act (CRA) and other pending legislation. Because of these very real challenges, at this time it would be very difficult to implement a legal name change for The ASF."

Natives in Tech is a collective of Native technologists crafting free and open source technology designed to empower Native peoples. Group projects include Indigemoji,  a collection of indigenous flags and important symbols for use on chat platforms; and MMIW AR Face Mesh App, which aims to raise awareness of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) human rights campaign. The app will let users take a picture with the campaign's red hand over their face, then share that picture on social media.

While Apache is undoubtedly taking the logo reworking step to keep to its well-known position of fairness, given the eclectic nature of the names of many of its projects, this does raise questions of just what projects might be in line for a rename. Tomcat? Kafka? Pinot? Daffodil? Guacamole? MyNewt? There are undoubtedly groups who might be coming for all of those.

More Information

Apache Statement

Natives In Tech blog post

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