Anusha
01-26-2007, 08:02 AM
The two main evangelizers of the Linux operating system, Open Source Development Labs Inc. (OSDL) and Free Standards Group Inc. (FSG), are merging to form the Linux Foundation.
The two industry consortiums will announce on Monday that they're in the final stages of combining their respective operations, according to Jim Zemlin, who will head the Linux Foundation. He was the FSG's executive director.
With Linux now an established operating system presence for embedded, desktop and server systems, the primary evangelizing mission that the OSDL and FSG embarked upon in 2000 has come to an end, Zemlin said. The focus for the foundation will be to help the Linux community more effectively compete with its primary operating system rival Microsoft Corp.
The combination of the two Linux consortiums was "inevitable," said Michael Goulde, a senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. "The challenge Linux faces is the same one Unix faced and failed -- how to become a single standard."
Interoperability is a key area to work on, as is backward compatibility between newer and older Linux releases, Zemlin said. At the same time, the foundation will look to expand the legal protection it offers developers and continue to provide a "safe haven" for Linux kernel developers, including the creator of the operating system Linus Torvalds, he added.
There was a fair amount of overlap in members between the OSDL and FSG, Zemlin said. The Linux Foundation is staffed by 45 full-time employees and to date counts 70 members including Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM, Novell Inc., Oracle Corp. and Red Hat Inc., as well as universities and end users. Zemlin is keen for the foundation to attract new members particularly among end users, government agencies and individual developers.
The foundation's Web site is set to go live Monday and will provide an introduction to the new organization and its goals as well as links to the technical work in which the OSDL and the FSG were engaged, which the Linux Foundation has pledged to continue.
Source: ComputerWorld (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9008738&source=NLT_OS&nlid=41)
The two industry consortiums will announce on Monday that they're in the final stages of combining their respective operations, according to Jim Zemlin, who will head the Linux Foundation. He was the FSG's executive director.
With Linux now an established operating system presence for embedded, desktop and server systems, the primary evangelizing mission that the OSDL and FSG embarked upon in 2000 has come to an end, Zemlin said. The focus for the foundation will be to help the Linux community more effectively compete with its primary operating system rival Microsoft Corp.
The combination of the two Linux consortiums was "inevitable," said Michael Goulde, a senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. "The challenge Linux faces is the same one Unix faced and failed -- how to become a single standard."
Interoperability is a key area to work on, as is backward compatibility between newer and older Linux releases, Zemlin said. At the same time, the foundation will look to expand the legal protection it offers developers and continue to provide a "safe haven" for Linux kernel developers, including the creator of the operating system Linus Torvalds, he added.
There was a fair amount of overlap in members between the OSDL and FSG, Zemlin said. The Linux Foundation is staffed by 45 full-time employees and to date counts 70 members including Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM, Novell Inc., Oracle Corp. and Red Hat Inc., as well as universities and end users. Zemlin is keen for the foundation to attract new members particularly among end users, government agencies and individual developers.
The foundation's Web site is set to go live Monday and will provide an introduction to the new organization and its goals as well as links to the technical work in which the OSDL and the FSG were engaged, which the Linux Foundation has pledged to continue.
Source: ComputerWorld (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9008738&source=NLT_OS&nlid=41)