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Currently "sponsored" tags are only available for tags in which a sponsor has ponied up cash for.

Since most open source communities cannot afford or justify the expense of purchasing a "sponsored" tag, I propose that each eligible open source community should receive a free sponsored tag among those relating to their project.

Eligible projects would include, but not be limited to Python, PHP, Java, HTML5, Drupal, etc….

I asked a question on M.SO regarding the use of Java's BSD licensed Duke mascot since Java is curated by the OpenJDK project and was pointed here to sort out the general case.

I do realize some projects do have corporate sponsors behind them, such as Oracle to Java; however I believe these types of projects have more community momentum and would continue even without the corporate backer. Other projects depend on the corporate backer for momentum, such as IIS, Oracle DB, etc.

However I contest it's very commonplace for products sold by companies to be given gratis to open source communities and projects, as a way of giving back to the FLOSS communities (as it's challenging to find any software that is not based on or influenced by the hard work of the FLOSS movement). I see no difference here -- if Microsoft wants to "sponsor" the IE tag, they can since it's a proprietary for-profit product. But if Apache wants to sponsor the httpd tag, they should receive it gratis since its a free open source project anyone may use.

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  • Oh, I stand corrected, @Dae. So, why did they need to ask it here too?
    – M.A.R.
    Jul 17, 2015 at 20:00
  • @inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M If you view the linked question, you'll see they were directed here.
    – Daedalus
    Jul 17, 2015 at 20:00
  • @inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M I was directed to SE meta for this type of question, and realized there is currently no mechanism for any open source project. Java is just where I started on SO meta.
    – SnakeDoc
    Jul 17, 2015 at 20:00
  • I'm not entirely clear whether you mean that all tags relating to a given FLOSS community should be sponsored for free, that one tag per FLOSS community should be sponsored, or what. Jul 17, 2015 at 20:21
  • @NathanTuggy I'm meaning one tag per FLOSS community should be sponsored for free. So the Python Logo/mascot for Python tag, Duke for Java tag, Xen logo for the Xen project, FreeBSD mascot for FreeBSD, etc.
    – SnakeDoc
    Jul 17, 2015 at 20:26
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    @SnakeDoc Wouldn't that be kind of a take-away from what sponsored tags already get?
    – Daedalus
    Jul 17, 2015 at 20:43
  • 2
    @Daedalus In some viewpoints maybe. However I contest it's very common place for products sold by companies to be given gratis to open source communities and projects, as a way of giving back to the FLOSS communities (as it's challenging to find any software that is not based on or influenced by the hard work of the FLOSS movement). I see no difference here -- if Microsoft wants to "sponsor" the IE tag, they can since it's a proprietary for-profit product. But if Apache wants to sponsor the httpd tag, they should receive it gratis since its a free open source project anyone may use.
    – SnakeDoc
    Jul 17, 2015 at 20:47
  • @SnakeDoc That's fair I suppose.
    – Daedalus
    Jul 17, 2015 at 20:50
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    So sponsored tags were added 2 years ago, but only a handful of potential sponsors have actually used this. Providing free icons for non-profit projects would make tags more useful and Stackexchange more colorful, and might add incentive to buy sponsorship.
    – tkruse
    Nov 30, 2017 at 8:24

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