The Mambo Foundation today announced changes to its Third Party Developer membership category. “The current Third Party Developer level was creating confusion and misconceptions in the community,” said Ric Shreves, Director of Advocacy and PR for the Mambo Foundation. “While the original intention of the ‘Third-Party Developer Member’ category was to provide members with additional benefits, such as co-partnerships with the Foundation on components and to provide deeper insight and communication with the Mambo core development team, it has proven instead to be a magnet for criticism from the community”

After much discussion with Mambo community members and recommendations from members of the new Mambo Steering Committee, the Foundation has decided to simplify the membership categories and abolish the ‘Third-Party Developer Member’ category completely.

Third Party Developers who wish to join the Mambo Foundation in support of the Mambo Open Source project should now simply join at the Ordinary membership level. At that level, they will enjoy all the benefits of membership, including voting rights in the selection of Board members and team leaders, and involvement on how the Mambo project should chart its course. Mambo Foundation Board member Jim Begley noted that “going forward we are trying to establish a more supportive framework for third party developers. We want it to be easier to be involved with Mambo and we want to be able to give people greater certainty as to the development path and greater access to key information to allow for a more practical and productive environment.”

The Mambo Foundation welcomes all Mambo third-party developers to contact them directly should they have further questions or require clarification.