The '''Open Bioinformatics Foundation''' is a [[non-profit]], volunteer-run organization focused on supporting [[open source programming]] in [[bioinformatics]].<ref name=obf-main>{{cite web|title=Open Bioinformatics Foundation|url=http://www.open-bio.org/wiki/Main_Page|accessdate=1 September 2014}}</ref> The mission of the foundation is to support the development of open source toolkits for bioinformatics, organise developer-centric [[hackathon]] events and generally assist in the development and promotion of open source software development in the life sciences. The foundation also organises and runs the annual [[Bioinformatics Open Source Conference]], a satellite meeting of the [[Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology]] conference.<ref name=obf-bosc>{{cite web|title=BOSC – Open Bioinformatics Foundation|url=http://www.open-bio.org/wiki/BOSC|accessdate=1 September 2014}}</ref> The foundation participates in the [[Google Summer of Code]], acting as an umbrella organisation for individual bioinformatics-related projects.<ref name=obf-gsoc>{{cite web|title=Google Summer of Code – Open Bioinformatics Foundation|url=http://www.open-bio.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code|accessdate=1 September 2014}}</ref><ref name=google-obf>{{cite web|title=Open Bioinformatics Foundation|url=https://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org2/google/gsoc2014/obf|website=google-melange.com|accessdate=1 September 2014}}</ref>
The Open Bioinformatics Foundation was started in 2001, arising from the [[BioJava]], [[BioPerl]] and [[BioPython]] projects. A formal membership for the foundation was created in 2005.<ref name=obf-main /> In October 2012, the foundation began an association with [[Software in the Public Interest]] (SPI), a US-based non-profit which aids other organizations in the creation and distribution of [[free software|free]] and [[open-source software]]. The association with SPI allows financial donations to the foundation (these are 501(c)3 tax-exempt in the US).<ref name=obf-main /><ref name=spi-obf>{{cite web|title=obf|url=http://spi-inc.org/projects/obf/|website=spi-inc.org|accessdate=1 September 2014}}</ref>
