Amazon Web Services (AWS) has officially transferred its OpenSearch open-source project to the Linux Foundation, marking a significant shift for the popular search and analytics software. With this move, the Linux Foundation has launched the OpenSearch Software Foundation to provide continued support and foster the project’s growth. This transition aims to enhance OpenSearch’s development and adoption, leveraging the resources and governance structure of the Linux Foundation.
OpenSearch, originally a fork of Elasticsearch and Kibana, has become an essential tool for developers worldwide. It powers search, analytics, observability, and vector database applications, accumulating over 700 million downloads globally. As part of the Linux Foundation, OpenSearch will benefit from a broader ecosystem of support and collaboration, ensuring its place as a crucial technology for modern software solutions. The new OpenSearch Software Foundation will play a key role in coordinating efforts among community maintainers and developer organizations to support the ongoing expansion of the project.
AWS’s Nandini Ramini, vice president of search and cloud operations, highlighted the advantages of transferring OpenSearch to the Linux Foundation, emphasizing the vendor-neutral governance model that encourages greater collaboration. With this shift, OpenSearch is positioned to grow further, benefiting from the collective contributions of the global open-source community. Ramini also expressed excitement about the collaborative potential the foundation would bring, ensuring that OpenSearch continues to thrive and support a wide range of use cases.
The OpenSearch Software Foundation will focus on furthering the adoption of OpenSearch by enterprises using it for business-critical workloads. AWS, Uber, and other companies like Aiven, Canonical, and NetApp Instaclustr are contributing to the foundation’s efforts as premier and general members. OpenSearch will now operate as an open technical project under the guidance of a steering committee, fostering innovation and maintaining its position as a trusted tool in the open-source landscape.