Take Back Python - Creating the Python Software Federation

AI is rapidly changing the world – and Python is the primary language for AI.

The Python ecosystem relies on an international, diverse community of developers and scientists – yet ownership of legal and technological Python assets is in the hand of a small number of organisations such as the Python Software Foundation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all human societies have certain unalienable rights as custodians of their own technological progress, in pursuit of liberty and happiness. That to secure these rights, technology governance is instituted, deriving power from the societies impacted; that whenever any governance becomes restrictive of these ends, it is the Right of any People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new technology governance, in such form they deem appropriate.

We believe that the Python Software Foundation must give up its centralized, monopolistic grip on Python.

That legal and technological assets must be shared with the peoples of the world, by planned devolution and transfer of assets to national or supranational organisations.

We pledge to pursue this goal as our topmost and urgent priority – a cooperative international landscape of Python organisations, wielding actual technological power on behalf of the societies they represent.

Urgency is required due to the speed of the AI revolution: the assets of the PSF must immediately be directed towards

• creating an international network of independent, fully empowered organisations,
• building Python competence and technological independence in this network,
• moving towards governance as a Federation of Python.

The focus of PSF must become knowledge transfer, technology sharing, and funded opportunity creation for developers, worldwide.

Pythonistas of the world, vote!

Take back Python, it belongs to you!

Join & vote

Join, or learn how you can support us - voting tutorial included:

https://github.com/python-software-federation/psf2025

Concrete policy measures

In the targeted end state, independent non-profit organisations for Python exist in individual jurisdictions of the world, corresponding to nation states or supranational organisations with joint jurisdictional sphere. These organisations are constructed and enabled to be independent of PSF, and controlled locally.

Legal assets held directly or indirectly by the PSF, such as trade marks, sponsorship and license contracts, are to be split up and distributed to non-profit organisations in jurisdictions across the world.

Technology transfer will enable the decentralization of Python distribution and maintenance assets. Maintenance will not be split into fully independent clusters, but is expected to be synced through protocols similar to Byzantine fault tolerance.

For instance, the package distribution system could be moved to a decentralized system of synced mirrors, with local administrators and shared code – such that no single node can become an entry point for political games or unilateral control.

Local organisations will be expected to be autonomous in technological decision making, and represent local interests; they will also be expected to participate in a coherent and interoperable technology landscape, i.e., not fork Python or package infrastructure, but instead participate in synchronized maintenance of the base technology, and consensus seeking in international technology politics.

Stance on other PSF issues

We do not take a particular stance on other issues. We believe that local decision making bodies are best placed to decide on these based on needs of their constituents. Enabling these constituents to make their own decisions is, therefore, our priority.

We also consider the repeated introduction of US party politics inspired “culture wars” wedge issues to the Python forums a distraction, and harmful to the bigger picture.

In particular, we deliberately abstain from these topics, as we consider these dumb (yet, sadly, often effective) distractions from the questions that actually matter: technology monopolies and worldwide technology colonialism.