Nithin Kamath says FOSS is the 'pillar' on which Zerodha has been built. What is it?

Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath on Thursday took to Twitter to share that the brokerage company has been using Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) and how it has become a strong pillar in the company's success story.

Kamath said, "Free and open-source software (FOSS) has been the pillar on which Zerodha is built. Our tech team has been funding & contributing to FOSS. We've signed the FOSS pledge & hope that companies benefitting from FOSS also sign & start giving back."

Free and open source software (FOSS) has been the pillar on which Zerodha is built. Our tech team has been funding & contributing to FOSS.

We've signed the FOSS pledge & hope that companies benefitting from FOSS also sign & start giving back. 1/3https://t.co/75yP8HRViO

— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) December 22, 2022

What is FOSS?

FOSS stands for free and open-source software that allows users and programmers to edit, modify or reuse the software's source code. It gives developers the opportunity to improve program functionality by modifying it.

The term “free” in its name indicates that this software does not have constraints on copyrights and the term “open source” indicates the software is in its project form, enabling easy software development from expert developers collaborating worldwide without any need for reverse engineering.

How did it help Zerodha?

As per Kamath, Zerodha has been using Listmonk to send 30 million emails/month at ~$200."

Listmonk has been developed by Zerodha's chief technology officer, Kailash Nadh, who is also the co-founder of FOSS United. Nadh created Listmonk, a self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager that has helped the low-cost brokerage company send emails at a minimum cost.

In a separate blog, Kamath explained that Zerodha does not divert any money for advertising and marketing and is built on lean infrastructure that finds its base in FOSS.

He said, "It would have cost us tens of 000’s $/month otherwise. One of the main reasons for our high margins, profitability, & hence the ability to bootstrap is because almost everything we use is FOSS."

"K & our tech team also contribute back to FOSS (Free & Open Source Software) significantly. K built Listmonk as a hobby project to solve our email problems. He then open-sourced it for people to build on," he added.

Meanwhile, Nadh's newly founded FOSS United Foundation is built with the intention to support Free and Open Source (FOSS) projects and communities in India. FOSS United runs community programs and events and provides funding to FOSS projects.

FOSS United also runs a pledge asking techies and organisations to openly credit and talk about the FOSS. Kamath and Zerodha have signed this pledge.