ByWater Solutions is a privately owned and funded company founded in California[1] in March 2009 by CEO Brendan A. Gallagher and CRO Nathan A. Curulla,[2][3] which provides implementation, hosting, support, consultation, and development services for open source services including the Koha Integrated Library System.
[4][5][6] After the founding of ByWater Solutions in 2009, Gallagher began contributing to the Koha community by way of small developmental fixes.
Since its founding, ByWater has also partnered with other open source software companies worldwide to work on improving the Koha project both with documentation and developments.
Bywater is a village which is situated in close proximity to the Shire, the home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, who are the two main characters in the story.
The Inn was a hub for the collaboration and exchange of news and ideas in the world of Middle Earth, and thus resembles the environment found in Koha and Open Source Software in general.