Linux Foundation formed by merger of leading open source groups

[disciple]

New Linux Foundation Launches – Merger of Open Source Development Labs and Free Standards Group
Sunday, January 21st, 2007

Highlights:

    * Includes more than 70 members from around the world
    * Unified organization promotes, protects and standardizes Linux
    * Continues to sponsor Linux creator Linus Torvalds

SAN FRANCISCO, January 22, 2007 — The two leading consortia dedicated to the advancement of Linux® – the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group (FSG) – today announced that they have signed an agreement to merge and form The Linux Foundation. The new organization accelerates the growth of Linux by providing a comprehensive set of services to compete effectively with closed platforms.

Founding platinum members of the Linux Foundation include Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell, and Oracle. Jim Zemlin, former executive director of the Free Standards Group, leads The Linux Foundation. Other members of the new organization include every major company in the Linux industry, including Red Hat, 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, customization and flexibility without forcing customers into vendor lock-in,” said Zemlin. “The Linux Foundation helps in the next stage of Linux growth by organizing the diverse companies and constituencies of the Linux ecosystem to promote, protect, and standardize Linux.”

The Linux Foundation, which continues to sponsor the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds, employs a shared resources strategy – much like open source development itself – to collaborate on platform development while enhancing the Linux market for end users, the community, developers and industry.

Why The Linux Foundation Now

Since OSDL and the FSG were each formed more than six years ago, Linux has grown significantly in server, desktop, and embedded usage around the world. Moreover, the open source model has transformed development by providing faster demand-side learning, higher quality, better security, shorter development cycles, and lower prices than closed platform development models. OSDL and the FSG were important forces behind open source adoption and played key roles in preventing fragmentation of the Linux market.

For Linux to remain open and attain the greatest ubiquity possible, important services must be provided, including legal protection, standardization, promotion and collaboration. Successful proprietary software companies, for instance, do several important things well: backwards compatibility, promotion, interoperability, developer support, and more. 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 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

lthey connect like Voltron there, oui.

http://www.linux-foundation.org/wordpress/?p=286

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/technology/22linux.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

[W1nTry]

More like power rangers... bunch of different ppl going into 1 unit as opposed to separate units forming 1... let's see what fruit this bares!

[Prowl]

This can work, at the very least smaller code that each partner keeps for it's own linux release can now get incoperated into others. We'll still have 150 different linux distros but much more compatability between them and more pressure on MS.