Two major pro-Linux organisations, the Open Source Development Labs and the
Free
Standards Group (FSG), today announced an agreement to merge
and form The Linux Foundation.
Founding 'platinum' members of The Linux Foundation include Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell and Oracle.
Jim Zemlin, former executive director of the FSG, will lead the new
organisation. Other members include "every major company in the
Linux industry" , as well as numerous community groups,
universities and industry end users.
"Computing is entering a world dominated by two platforms: Linux
and Windows. While being managed under one roof has given Windows
some consistency, Linux offers freedom of choice, customisation and
flexibility without forcing customers into vendor lock-in," said
Zemlin.
"The Linux Foundation helps in the next stage of Linux growth by
organising the diverse companies and constituencies of the Linux
ecosystem to promote, protect and standardise Linux."
The Linux Foundation, which continues to sponsor the work of Linux
creator Linus Torvalds, outlined a shared resources strategy to
collaborate on platform development while enhancing the Linux
market for end users, the community, developers and industry.
According to the organisation, for Linux to remain open and attain
the greatest ubiquity possible, important services must be
provided, including legal protection, standardisation, promotion
and collaboration.
It added that the group needs to recognise that successful
proprietary software companies such as Microsoft do several important
things well, such as backwards compatibility, promotion,
interoperability and developer support.
"In the voluntary and distributed world of Linux development, the
industry continues to successfully use the consortia model to
rapidly improve these value attributes for Linux," the organisation
stated.
"The Linux Foundation has been founded to help close the gap
between open source and proprietary platforms, while sustaining the
openness, freedom of choice and technical superiority inherent in
open source software."
The Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards
Group will merge to form The Linux Foundation