Tea, the open source unified package deal supervisor for software program developers, introduced immediately that it has added an extra $8.9 million in seed funding to its coffers because it builds on the latest momentum of almost 16,000 developers validating their packages with Tea superior.
Tea is the brainchild of Max Howell and Timothy Lewis, creators of the favored open source package deal supervisor Homebrew. The pair formally launched Tea in Puerto Rico in November, and the corporate emerged from secrecy in March with $8 million in funding from high-profile backers, together with the enterprise capital arm of cryptocurrency large Binance.
The firm made a large announcement about the way it plans to use the brand new web3 protocol to transfer away from the blockchain to help creators and maintainers of open source software program get paid. This would require “digital contracts,” which can make it simpler for corporations to sponsor these chargeable for key parts of their expertise stacks. According to the Tea white paper, the proposed protocol would see package deal maintainers obtain a non-fungible token (NFT) once they end sending a package deal, and “used to show their work and is essential to driving Tea rewards.”
For now, although, Tea is concentrated on the primary incarnation of the product launched final month to problem established gamers within the package deal administration area, reminiscent of GitHub-owned NPM and Homebrew itself.
Tea CLI Interface Model Image Credit: Tea
versatile
Tea guarantees that it is going to be extra than simply a package deal supervisor: it is going to be a “common” package deal supervisor, a general-purpose interpreter, and a digital atmosphere supervisor. But most significantly, it’s malleable, permitting developers and corporations to adapt it to their wants.
“What we have launched to this point is what I contemplate to be the essential performance of the CLI [command-line interface] There ought to be instruments like this,” Howell advised TechCrunch. “It makes occupied with what packages you want secondary to what you need to obtain — what you need to build. The way forward for Tea will rely upon community-created extensions to unleash the true energy of open source of their respective niches. “
While this future appears promising, supporting open source developers of their efforts to get paid is arguably the most important recreation changer right here. However, Tea’s shut integration with the cryptocurrency world could give many individuals pause, particularly given the high-profile chaos attributable to the FTX debacle. In addition to the participation of high-profile traders reminiscent of Binance, Tea’s proposed protocol would see package deal maintainers obtain a non-fungible token (NFT) once they end sending a package deal, and “used to show their work and is the important thing The return of the tea,” in accordance to the white paper.
But the difficulty of funds has lengthy been a speaking level within the open source world, largely due to outstanding safety flaws reminiscent of Log4Shell. CUltimately, companies want a Strong Software Supply ChainSo any means of supporting this is likely to be of no less than some curiosity.
There’s no set date for when Tea’s new protocol will probably be prepared for prime time, however the firm says it ought to launch in 2023.
“Just like ready till November to launch our CLI, we can’t launch it till we perceive the way it ought to greatest be constructed and do some trial and error internally,” Lewis added. “We’re taking the time to make sure that the software itself is beneficial and helpful to developers.”
Lewis additionally emphasised that when the protocol is launched, its core parts, together with the blockchain ledger, license administration and compensation capabilities, will probably be utterly non-obligatory for all concerned. But it is going to additionally strengthen Tea’s personal enterprise mannequin.
“We’re a diversified providers firm — we intend to build instruments into the protocol that can generate income and encourage others to do the identical by having an immutable decentralized ledger,” Lewis stated. “We have a lengthy record of potential revenue-generating outcomes, relying on what the group finds most helpful.”
More particularly, there will probably be a vary of company-specific providers round safety and compliance.
“We assume we will excel in licensing and license administration,” Lewis added. “Open the code Supply chain safety is vital to many corporations immediately. We will build a system to help determine potential threats and run to monitor license compliance of 1000’s of various open source parts. “
Tea’s newest funding spherical was led by Acuitas Group Holdings, with participation from Betaworks Ventures, Percival VC, Round 13 Digital Assets Fund, StrongBlock and Wax Blockchain.