AutoMapper joins the .NET Foundation

Today marks a new era for the AutoMapper project, as we join the .NET Foundation. There were a number of reasons I wanted AutoMapper, from the legal to continuity. I'm going to steal Peachpie's announcement a bit for the benefits:

• As a contributor:
  When you make a contribution to the source code of the project, you will sign a CLA based on an automated mechanism the .NET Foundation will set up for us. That way, your code is properly protected and legally set up in the right way.

• As a user:
  Your worst nightmare as a user is when a project you build your application around ceases to exist, because the developers stop working on it. Or what is at first advertised as free and open source all the sudden becomes paid. Our joining the .NET Foundation guarantees that the project will always remain open source and that there is a certain continuity to it. In other words – it will continue to exist even if we stop working on it, as it will be under the tutelage of a larger organization.

• As a company:
  Similarly to the last point, you now have the certainty that AutoMapper is governed by more than just us. Regardless of what happens to us, AutoMapper is there to stay. With the help of the .NET Foundations, we can obtain SSL certificates to ensure the highest degree of security.

• As the community:
  Finally, as the general community, the .NET Foundation now gives us the means to test everything we need as thoroughly as possible. One of the key functions of the Foundation is that it provides legal council to ensure the project follows the best possible guidelines and standards of open source development.

We're excited to join and ensure the long-term health of the project!