What it is

A single-purpose entity.
Not a company or a product.

Libre Commons protects and funds the public infrastructure behind desktop independence. It is not IronTree Software in another wrapper or a funding vehicle for company-specific work. The tools for leaving proprietary platforms live here, available to any distribution, desktop environment, institution, or user.

Today it is a published doctrine and an operational Standards Register. It will incorporate as a separate nonprofit when outside contributors need a legal entity to steward through. Until then, the framework is producing public-domain output under published rules.

The boundary

The one rule that keeps it honest.

The line between IronTree and Libre Commons is simple and published:

Commons funds public infrastructure

Compatibility tests, behavior specifications, open validation data, security coordination, reference-first governance, defensive publications. Output anyone can use without asking permission.

IronTree funds product advantage

Product polish, support operations, vendor relationships, certification programs, customer delivery, commercial features. Output that creates IronTree-specific value.

IronTree can benefit from commons-funded work because everyone can benefit from it. The commons does not pay for work that only IronTree can turn into value. This line is a design constraint on the project today, not a future promise.

Standards register

Keeping useful conventions in the public domain.

A standing program that keeps useful computing conventions free of patent capture. Defensive publications, open specifications, and reference implementations, pinned to the commons before anyone can fence them off.

Published works

What the Commons has produced so far.

The first entries in the Standards Register. Each is a dated, public-domain dedication that establishes prior art, free for anyone to implement, build on, or distribute.

Telemetry Nutrition Label

Read the publication → Public domain Open spec

An open, machine-readable format for declaring what your software sends home. A structured manifest modeled on the food nutrition label: a fixed, comparable, scannable disclosure of outbound data.

Non-Gating, Owner-Sovereign Platform Attestation

Read the publication → Public domain Open spec

A specification for platform integrity attestation controlled by the owner, not the vendor. Integrity is reported to the owner; it is never a permission granted to a stranger.

Open Special Key Symbol

Read the publication → CC0 dedication Defensive pub

A public-domain glyph and semantic convention for the "special" key found on open-source and non-proprietary keyboards, analogous to the "Windows" key or "Command" key, but universally usable by any platform.

Multi-Touch Gesture Mapping

Read the publication → Defensive pub Prior art

A platform-neutral vocabulary for multi-touch gestures: three-finger swipe, four-finger pinch, edge swipe, and others, mapped to consistent semantic actions. Designed so any OS or desktop environment can implement the same gesture language.

Informational-Only Component Authentication

Read the publication → Defensive pub Open spec

A specification for component authentication that identifies a part's identity without enabling lock-out, DRM, or repair restriction. Designed for the right-to-repair and refurbishment ecosystem.

Commons inquiries Commons@IronTreeSoftware.com