Open source Python projects are invited to join the early access program for the ActiveState Platform.  The early access program is a prelude to offering free access to the Platform for all qualified open source projects.

The program is intended to let Python-based projects easily create and share smaller and more secure Python distributions for multiple operating systems using the ActiveState Platform. ActiveState will choose a small set of projects to participate in the early-access program 

In a post titled "An Open Letter To The Open Source Community" on the Active State blog last month CEO Bart Copeland wrote:

Our goal is to make it simple for every developer, every project, and every user to run any open source language runtime and install any application or package, no matter the target operating system, the dependencies, or the open source languages used.

This is an ambitious goal, and we know we will need to work closely with the open source community to make it succeed. We’ll start by providing free access to qualifying open source projects so they can use our ActiveState Platform to deploy their code and dependencies to Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Inviting Python projects to join the EAP is the first step towards this. Participants will get free access to the Platform’s features for their project, including: 

• The ability to create and share custom runtimes for Linux, macOS and Windows. These runtimes can include specific releases of Python and can run in a sandboxed environment, ensuring trouble-free deployment for your users and easier debugging for your contributors.
• Transparent licensing. These runtimes will have the same licensing as your project and its existing dependencies. Glue code from ActiveState will be MIT licensed for maximum compatibility.
• Cloud-based build infrastructure that you don’t have to configure, manage or pay for.
• Shared secrets, to make it easier for project contributors to securely share credentials.

In return feedback on their experience will help ActiveState understand how to improve the ActiveState Platform for all open source projects. As Scott Robertson, ActiveState's CTO, puts it:

We’re building an awesome Platform that gets better the more unique combinations of components it builds. Each of these are shared with other projects whenever possible accelerating their builds. The more communities help us discover the popular unique combinations the better we can help the community.

To qualify for the EAP open source projects should be in Python with none or few non-Python dependencies and be licensed under one or more Free Software and/or Open Source licenses. The EAP is expected to last until the Platform is opened up for general access by open source projects.

To apply or nominate a project for ActiveState’s Open Source Early Access Program, reply in this thread divulging your relationship to the project, as well as the project’s:

• Name
• Licensing
• Homepage
• Public repository location

Why is ActiveState doing this? Copeland's answer is:

"The early access program lets open-source projects use the ActiveState Platform to spend more of their time advancing the project and less time on project maintenance. As a company, we rely heavily on the open source community and we're looking forward to giving back in yet another meaningful and scalable way."

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