High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Software in the Public Interest, Inc. is a non-profit organization formed to help other organizations create and distribute free/open-source software and open source hardware. Anyone is eligible to apply for membership, and contributing membership is available to those who participate actively in the free software community. A nonprofit organization is an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Examples of NPOs include charities, trade unions, and public arts organizations. Most governments and government agencies meet this definition, but in most countries they are considered a separate type of organization and not counted as NPOs.