From The Linux Foundation
What is The Linux Foundation?
The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2007 by the merger of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group (FSG), it sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and is supported by leading Linux and open source companies and developers from around the world. The Linux Foundation promotes, protects and standardizes Linux by providing unified resources and services needed for open source to successfully compete with closed platforms.
Who are members of the Linux Foundation?
The founding platinum members of the Linux Foundation are Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell, and Oracle. 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.
Where is the Linux Foundation located?
The Linux Foundation has offices in Beaverton, Oregon, San Francisco, California, and Tokyo, Japan, with additional staff in Indiana and Moscow. Here is our contact info.
Why was The Linux Foundation formed?
Linux has experienced tremendous growth since OSDL and the FSG were each formed more than six years ago. Today, Linux has captured significant marketshare across many different industries and has reached a level of maturity that requires a focused and comprehensive set of resources as it enters the next phase of explosive growth.
The Linux Foundation marshals the resources of the Linux ecosystem to provide much needed services that are not easily offered by a single community member, entity or company. It uses a shared resources strategy – much as open source developers do – to collaborate on platform development while enhancing the Linux market for everyone: end users, the community, developers and industry.
Does Linus Torvalds work for The Linux Foundation?
The Linux Foundation sponsors Linus Torvalds so he can remain independent while working fulltime on the Linux kernel.
Who leads the Linux Foundation?
Jim Zemlin is the executive director and was chosen to lead the Linux Foundation due to his deep Linux and open source software experience and industry relationships. He has led the Free Standards Group for three years with previous experience as vice president of marketing at Covalent Technologies and a co-founder of Corio.
The management team includes:
- Jim Zemlin, executive director
- Dan Kohn, chief operating officer & member outreach
- Takashi Kunai, director of Japan
- Amanda McPherson, director of marketing
How do I become a member of the Linux Foundation?
Please join us.
Why does the LSB matter?
An operating system is only as strong as the applications that run on top of it. While Linux presents unique challenges to ISVs (including multiple distribution targets), it also affords them a tremendous market opportunity. The Linux Standard Base (LSB) was created to eliminate much of the heavy lifting required by ISVs targeting the Linux platform today. For ISVs, LSB is a means to reduce the cost and complexities of supporting Linux.
The vision of a standardized Linux balances the needs of the competitive distribution ecosystem with the requirements of end users and independent software vendors for interoperability. The Linux Foundation and the Linux Standard Base were created to enable ISVs to cost effectively target the Linux platform, reducing their porting, support and testing costs while achieving a global market for their applications.
Where can I download the most current LSB specification?
Here are the specifications.
How do I get my software product LSB Certified?
You can find out more in our certification section.
How do I get involved with the Linux Foundation?
- Join the LF as a Member
- Join a mailing list and participate
- Join a workgroup
- Make your application LSB Certified
- Mandate open standards compliance in your procurement contracts
- Help improve the LSB
- Contact the LF
To find out how your organization can benefit from the Linux Foundation, contact:
- info@linux-foundation.org
- General contact for The Linux Foundation
- membership@linux-foundation.org
- For membership questions or comments