How $407K Funding Boosts pip’s 2020 Roadmap and Python’s Package Ecosystem

The Python Software Foundation announced a $407,000 grant from Mozilla Corporation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to support pip’s 2020 development.

The funding will help maintain and improve the Python package installer, which underpins almost the entire Python ecosystem, making software installation, diagnostics, and infrastructure maintenance easier.

The foundation laid out a detailed three‑stage work plan for 2020:

Phase 1 (early 2020): foundational tasks.

Phase 2 (March–June 2020): resolver work, redesigning dependency resolution.

Phase 3 (June–December 2020): maintenance and sustainability.

Mozilla’s Open Source Support award contributes $207,000 for Python development, early‑stage user‑experience research, and design work over five months, covering issue triage, PR handling, code refactoring, and collaboration with downstream projects.

CZI’s $200,000 donation supports twelve months of Python development, testing infrastructure, project maintenance, four months of UX research and design, and partial travel expenses for developers.

Both grants also fund project management activities such as planning, testing, stakeholder communication, and administrative work for the Python Software Foundation.

The foundation is also rewriting pip’s dependency resolver, a project burdened by technical debt; the refactor is nearing completion and a prototype is already in use.

In June, the foundation submitted proposals to Mozilla and CZI and secured the funding, with future plans to seek additional support for pip, manylinux, and PyPI.

About the funders: Mozilla Open Source Support (MOSS) awards, run by Mozilla Corporation, fund open‑source software, hardware, and firmware projects, typically ranging from $5,000 to $150,000. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, supports “Essential Open Source Software for Science.”