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Zulip 正在进行重大组织调整——创始人 Tim Abbott 将不再担任全职领导，并与另外三位高级成员一同加入 Anthropic 。为保障项目的长期稳定与独立，Zulip 背后的公司 Kandra Labs 已捐赠给新成立的非营利机构 Zulip Foundation 。该基金会将全资持有 Kandra Labs，不再有其他股东或债务，确立了类似 Mozilla 和 Signal 的治理结构。此举旨在对 Zulip 的核心价值观作出永久承诺，并通过拨款和可免税捐赠开辟可持续的资金渠道。

Zulip Foundation 的初始董事会包括 Tim Abbott 、 Greg Price 、 Alya Abbott 和 Josh Triplett，顾问委员会汇集了开源和学术界的知名人士，如 Andrew Sutherland 和 Jeremy Avigad 。基金会的使命是打造最佳的团队聊天体验，尤其关注公共利益组织。尽管领导层发生变动，Zulip 的各项运营——包括云托管、支持合同以及 Google Summer of Code 等社区项目——将继续正常运行。 Kim Vandiver 已加入担任临时总裁，负责管理过渡并牵头寻找新的常任领导。

此次转型的主要目的是对 Zulip 的价值观作出长期且公开的承诺，并提升筹资能力。作为非营利组织，基金会现在可以申请拨款并接受捐赠，从而避免外部投资者施压导致项目在原则上让步，例如在数据隐私问题上的坚定立场。 Tim Abbott 表示，他决定加入 Anthropic，是出于希望更直接参与推动 AI 负责任发展的愿望，他认为这对人类的未来至关重要。他也强调，自己离开的前提是已确保 Zulip 能在没有他时继续蓬勃发展。

Zulip 的未来掌握在剩余的 12 名专业维护者手中，他们在该项目的平均工作年限超过四年，拥有多次交付重大改进的经验证明。团队即便在 Abbott 因育儿假或慢性疾病无法参与时，也保持了持续稳定的推进。尽管组织适应期间开发节奏可能短暂放缓，但团队严谨的开发流程和稳健的文化有望推动项目继续前进。基金会正在积极招聘以填补因人员加入 Anthropic 而留下的空缺，并邀请社区参加在线问答，讨论相关变化。 Zulip is undergoing a major organizational transition as its founder, Tim Abbott, steps back from full-time leadership to join Anthropic, along with three other senior team members. To ensure the project's long-term stability and independence, Kandra Labs, the company behind Zulip, has been donated to a newly created nonprofit entity called the Zulip Foundation. This foundation will now fully own Kandra Labs, with no other stockholders or debt, formalizing a governance structure similar to organizations like Mozilla and Signal. The move is designed to provide a permanent commitment to Zulip's core values and create new avenues for sustainable funding through grants and tax-deductible donations.

The Zulip Foundation's initial board includes Tim Abbott, Greg Price, Alya Abbott, and Josh Triplett, with an advisory board featuring notable figures from the open-source and academic communities, such as Andrew Sutherland and Jeremy Avigad. The foundation's mission is to develop the best possible team chat experience, with a particular focus on public-interest organizations. Despite the leadership change, Zulip's operations, including its cloud hosting, support contracts, and community programs like Google Summer of Code, will continue without interruption. Kim Vandiver has joined as Interim President to manage the transition and lead the search for new permanent leadership.

The primary motivations for this transition are to make a permanent, public commitment to Zulip's values and to enable more effective fundraising. As a nonprofit, the foundation can now apply for grants and accept donations without the risk of external investors pressuring the project to compromise its principles, such as its strong stance on data privacy. Tim Abbott explained that his decision to join Anthropic was driven by a desire to contribute more directly to the responsible development of AI, a cause he believes is vitally important for humanity's future. He emphasized that his departure was contingent on ensuring Zulip could thrive without him.

The future of Zulip is in the hands of its remaining team of 12 professional maintainers, who have an average of over four years of experience on the project and a proven track of shipping major improvements. The team has a history of steady progress, even during periods when Abbott was unavailable due to parental leave or a chronic illness. While there may be a temporary reduction in development velocity as the organization adapts, the team's disciplined development process and strong culture are expected to carry the project forward. The foundation is actively hiring to fill the roles left by those moving to Anthropic and is inviting the community to a live Q&A session to discuss the changes.