Tideways doubles its sponsorship of the PHP Foundation 2026
Tideways-News
“PHP2Shell” has raised awareness of the dangers posed by security vulnerabilities in programming languages and clearly demonstrated the importance of open-source work. Much of the work addressing security issues that affect millions of users is carried out within the open-source community.
Supporting open source has long been a priority for us. Tideways has been part of the PHP Foundation from the very beginning: as a founding member, as an Advisory Board member, and as a sponsor.
This year, Tideways is doubling its sponsorship of the PHP Foundation. Our contribution of $24,000 puts the Foundation in an even better position to deliver a steady stream of updates and further developments, many of which are security-related.
Our support goes beyond financial resources. We also contribute directly to PHP itself. Our team works on RFCs, bug fixes, documentation, testing, and reviews, and the Tideways extension is ready for every new PHP release from day one.
We also contribute content; our colleague Tim Düsterhus wrote “Designed Once, Usable Everywhere: An Investment in PHP’s Standard Library” for the Foundation’s blog, published November 3, 2026.
In addition, this year Tideways freed up our colleague Volker Dusch for six months so he could work for the PHP Foundation, where he acted as Ecosystem AI Security Engineer. In this role, he helped fix the security vulnerabilities in PHP known as PHP2Shell. However, this was merely his most high-profile activity.
PHP is not an isolated case: the Linux kernel’s TCP/IP stack and Brotli also had serious security vulnerabilities that affected software far beyond PHP. Taken together, this shows how important it is to invest in open-source projects at the lower layers of the stack.
Open source was referred to as a “key component” during the panel discussion on AI, Open Source and Digital Sovereignty – A Paradigm Shift in the Making in which Volker participated at the Digital Summit, which took place November 2 in Berlin. The fact that this realization has now reached the public and politics marks an important step forward.
If your company builds on PHP, we encourage you to consider sponsoring the PHP Foundation.
About the author
I’m a Content and Marketing Manager at Tideways, where I focus on content marketing, community building, and developer-focused communication. I enjoy turning complex technical topics into engaging content and creating meaningful connections within the PHP ecosystem.
As a passionate content creator and published author, I believe that great content starts with curiosity, authentic stories, and a genuine interest in the people behind them. Whether I’m working on marketing campaigns, building communities, or writing, I enjoy thinking outside the box and finding creative ways to engage and inspire others.