Funding the Haskell toolchain with Ecosystem Support Packages

Well-Typed are delighted to be working in partnership with the Haskell Foundation to offer Haskell Ecosystem Support Packages, which include:

• Investment in open-source maintenance work for core Haskell tools (GHC, Cabal, HLS, …)
• Access to Well-Typed’s team of Haskell experts for private development or technical support
• Funding the Haskell Foundation to sustain key community infrastructure¹
• Acknowledgement of the sponsor’s contribution to the Haskell community

We would like to gratefully acknowledge our first Haskell Ecosystem Supporters:

• Channable
• QBayLogic

They, along with our other clients who contribute to funding our open-source work, are making a real difference to Haskell’s sustainability. If your company uses Haskell and is not already funding its development, why not join them?

Introduction

The Haskell language has just turned 35 years old, and the vibrant Haskell community continues to thrive thanks to the efforts of dedicated volunteers across many different roles and open source projects. Haskell has always been a collective, community-driven project without a controlling corporate sponsor, which has many benefits. But it leads to challenges funding some activities that are crucial to the sustainability of the ecosystem:

• Maintenance of core parts of the Haskell toolchain: large, complex open-source projects need full-time paid maintainers to function effectively and avoid the “Nebraska problem”.

• Community-building and infrastructure support: from running servers for crucial services, to coordinating volunteers and assisting open-source projects, to organizing events.

Well-Typed has a well-established track record maintaining GHC and other core Haskell tools alongside our commercial consulting work; read more in our GHC activities reports. The Haskell Foundation undertakes a wide range of activities to support the community and broaden the adoption of Haskell.

Both Well-Typed and the Haskell Foundation rely on funding from commercial users of Haskell to make this possible. Thus we are happy to be working in partnership to make it easy for companies to contribute back and support all this important work, while receiving tangible benefits themselves. Haskell Ecosystem Supporter companies make a single contract and in return get support with their specific needs, work to sustain the Haskell tools on which they rely, and sponsor the Haskell Foundation. You can find out more about the approach we’ve agreed in the Foundation’s announcement of Ecosystem Partnerships.

Well-Typed have been keen supporters and sponsors of the Haskell Foundation since it was established five years ago, and Andres Löh from Well-Typed is currently Chair of the Foundation Board. We would be delighted to see other companies supporting the Haskell Foundation and the wider Haskell community through similar partnerships.

Our offer

Well-Typed offer multiple tiers of support, to meet the needs of clients of different sizes:

Next steps

If this sounds like something you or your company would be interested in, and you would like to help support the Haskell ecosystem, then:

• Read about our offer in more detail
• Talk to us in person at ZuriHac
• Contact us by email to info@well-typed.com