At the Eclipse Foundation, we believe that open source thrives when organisations give back through contributions ranging from reporting issues, writing code, and financial support. Open Elements exemplifies this commitment. As both a sponsor and active participant in the Adoptium Working Group, the company demonstrates how even small teams can make a meaningful impact on open source sustainability.
Supporting Critical Infrastructure
When developers build applications, much of the focus naturally goes to the top layer: the business logic, the frameworks, and the user experience. However, as Open Elements founder Hendrik Ebbers points out, these applications are built on a foundation of open source components.
“Creating applications starts at the JVM level and goes up to business development,” Hendrik says. “The runtime is critical because it’s not just your application that depends on it, millions of applications do.”
That foundation, from libraries to runtimes like Eclipse Temurin, underpins the modern software landscape. If the base layers become insecure, unsupported, or locked behind paywalls, the ripple effects can reach across industries. Sustaining open source means maintaining that shared infrastructure so everyone can continue to innovate on solid ground.
A Simple Way to Make a Difference
For Open Elements, becoming an Eclipse Temurin sustainer through the “individual” path was about leading by example. As a small company with nine employees, Hendrik explains that their sponsorship is partly symbolic. “We decided that since it is quite affordable for us to be part of the working group and move the project forward, that we would like to contribute even more by sponsoring a small amount,” Hendrik says.
“It shows that others can do it too. It’s just three clicks. If a hundred companies did this, we’d be able to support more platforms and run more tests.”
Financial contributions aren’t the only form of support. Open Elements contributes time and leadership to the working group, attending meetings, raising issues, and engaging with the community. Their participation reinforces that sustaining open source isn’t limited to large enterprises, and that any organisation that depends on these projects can help ensure their long-term health.
Why Everyone Should Care About Open Source
Supporting open source ensures the reliability of the systems we depend on daily. For businesses, that means contributing back to the communities that make their success possible.
“If all that is based on open source, I want to make sure open source is secure. Companies that build on open source have a responsibility to help maintain it because without open source, many of their products wouldn’t exist.”
Sustainability Through Governance
In Hendrik’s experience, two essential factors help make an open source project sustainable: community and governance. While passionate contributors remain the heartbeat of any project, effective governance ensures fairness, structure, and longevity, especially for critical software infrastructure.
For open source projects that are part of critical infrastructure, it is super important to have good governance. This provides a way for different entities, whether they are companies or individuals, to work together based on a solid ruleset to move components forward,” says Hendrik.
“That’s why organisations like the Eclipse Foundation are so important. They provide vendor-neutral stewardship and clear rules for collaboration.”
This governance model enables companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Google to work alongside small organisations under equal terms, protecting openness and ensuring that no single entity controls the direction of shared technology.
Join the Effort
Open Elements’ story illustrates that supporting open source doesn’t require massive resources, just the willingness to take part. Every contribution, whether financial or participatory, helps strengthen the ecosystem we all rely on.
➡️ Learn more about how to become an Eclipse Foundation sponsor: eclipse.org/sponsor
