News! There's a October 2024 update from Bitfocus about Companion and the path forward
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October 2024 Update

Bitfocus AS: Growing together while strengthening our open-source foundations

Dear community,

We have some exciting developments to share with you. Since our inception in 2018, we've been committed to improving workflows in the AV and broadcast industries through open-source innovation. Your support and contributions have been the backbone of Companion's success, and for that, we are immensely grateful.

Introducing our first commercial venture: Buttons

As we continue to grow, we're thrilled to announce that Bitfocus is expanding into the commercial space with our new product, Buttons. Designed for larger and more complex production environments, Buttons builds upon some of the foundations of Companion to offer advanced features, scalability, and enterprise-level solutions for professionals.

Our ongoing commitment to open source

We want to assure you that our dedication to the open-source community and to Companion remains as strong as ever. Here's what this means moving forward:

  • Companion will continue as it is: We understand that some of you might be concerned that Companion will change now that we (Bitfocus, the company) are entering the commercial space. Rest assured, Companion will continue to exist as the same trusted, open-source tool you've come to rely on. Our commitment to its development and support remains unwavering.

  • Community-driven development: Over the past few years, the development of Companion has been brilliantly driven by a group of dedicated core maintainers and community contributors—not directly by the Bitfocus team. We want to acknowledge and thank these individuals for their outstanding work and commitment. Moving forward, we aim to support these efforts even more by dedicating resources to assist and collaborate with the community, ensuring that Companion continues to thrive.

  • Donations and funding: Until now, Bitfocus has been entirely funded by your generous donations, with no external money involved. We're excited to share that we've now raised external funding to expand our commercial offerings. This means that even more of your donations will be directed exclusively toward the development and support of Companion. These funds will not be used for any commercial projects.

  • Investing in Companion: With additional resources at our disposal, we're allocating more support to enhance Companion. We're developing a new developer portal and module registry, which will introduce features like feature bounties and improved collaboration tools. While this will take time to fully implement, it's part of our long-term goal to grow and improve the fantastic ecosystem we've built together.

  • Expanding our team and project management: Thanks to the external funding, we've been able to create a healthy working environment for our growing team, which currently includes five dedicated individuals. Recognizing the incredible work done by the community maintainers, we're planning to dedicate paid resources to support Companion's development. This includes hiring developers and establishing more formal project management to coordinate efforts and set clear priorities, ensuring that Companion continues to evolve effectively.

  • Module contributions: We deeply value the contributions of our community developers. Modules contributed to Companion under the MIT license may be included in Buttons, in accordance with the license terms. The fact that we're moving into the commercial world and are able to use these modules commercially will only strengthen our contributions to Companion's ecosystem. If you have concerns about your module being included in our commercial products, please reach out to us at support@bitfocus.io. We respect your wishes and will work with you to find a suitable solution. In some cases, we may develop an alternative module to maintain functionality for our users.

  • Transparency and communication: We're updating our website and communication channels to clearly differentiate between our open-source initiatives and commercial products. Our goal is to maintain transparency and foster a collaborative environment where both efforts can thrive.

Why this expansion matters

By branching into commercial offerings and securing external funding, we're positioning Bitfocus to innovate further and provide solutions that meet a broader range of needs in the industry. This growth enables us to contribute more significantly to the open-source community while also developing products that sustain our mission and support our team.

Moving forward together

We believe that our commercial endeavors and open-source projects can coexist and enrich each other. Our commitment to challenging traditional systems and fostering collaboration remains at the heart of everything we do. The synergy between our commercial activities and open-source contributions will empower us all to continue growing and improving this fantastic ecosystem.

Thank you for being an integral part of our journey. We're excited about this new chapter and look forward to your continued support and collaboration.

If you have any questions or feedback, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Warm regards,

The Bitfocus Team

Website: www.bitfocus.io
Email: support@bitfocus.io
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