Merger Marks Open-Source Milestone
By Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
Jan. 23–The merger of two major Linux development groups Monday marks a “maturing” of open-source software, the combined organization’s new director says.
The days when businesses had to be talked into using Linux and other open-source products are over, according to Jim Zemlin, director of the newly formed Linux Foundation. Linux now occupies a multibillion-dollar niche in the software world, and Zemlin said it must be armed for battle with some of the same tactics and legal tools that Microsoft and other proprietary software companies use.
In particular, Zemlin said Linux backers must respond “to fear, uncertainty and doubt in the marketplace,” fueled by critics and competitors who challenge Linux’s legitimacy or charge that it has stolen software code.
As Linux backers work to compete with Microsoft Windows and other proprietary systems, though, they’ll also have to guard against charges that they are themselves becoming too corporate and losing the freewheeling spirit that helped inspire the open-source movement.
The Linux Foundation was created Monday when Zemlin’s old organization in San Francisco, the Free Standards Group, merged with the Beaverton-based Open Source Development Labs.
The new foundation will maintain offices in both California and Oregon and will continue to employ Linux creator Linus Torvalds, who manages Linux development from his home near Portland and had been working with Open Source Development Labs. Zemlin, 37, said by phone from San Francisco, he will shuttle between the foundation’s offices and is considering moving to Oregon.
Linux is a computer operating system, analogous to Microsoft Windows. Unlike Windows, though, Linux is created cooperatively by software developers who work by themselves or for a broad array of companies.
Also unlike Windows, Linux is an open-source system, meaning that its software code is open to inspection and modification by users. Torvalds has the final say as to what is included in the main Linux “kernel.”
As Linux has grown, it has come under increasing attack from its rivals, and from Microsoft in particular. Among other charges, Microsoft has accused Linux of using patented Microsoft software in Linux’s programming. Microsoft has also criticized variations within Linux, which could lead to compatibility issues between different versions.
By uniting his Free Standards Group and Open Source Development Labs, Zemlin said The Linux Foundation will be well-positioned to fight legal challenges to Linux and promote standardization to assure that different versions of Linux work well together. “It’s more of a professionalism,” Zemlin said. “Having said that, we will never lose sight of the spirit of open source.”
The Linux Foundation has correctly identified some of the most pressing issues facing Linux, said Bart Massey, a computer-science professor and open-source specialist at Portland State University. But the Free Standards Foundation and OSDL were addressing the issues well already, he said. The merger may save organizational costs, Massey said, but he worries it may also hurt Oregon’s status in the open-source community.
“Having them share management structure and work more closely together is terrific,” Massey said. “My big concern is: Is this a prelude to reducing what’s going on in Beaverton?”
Open Source Development Labs laid off nine people last month, including eight at its Beaverton office. Longtime Chief Executive Stuart Cohen left, too, to form his own open- source company. The Linux Foundation now has 45 employees worldwide, including 17 in Beaverton.
Oregon will remain central to The Linux Foundation, Zemlin said Monday. With IBM and Intel doing Linux development work in Washington County, and Torvalds and other prominent developers living nearby, he said it makes sense to retain a strong presence in the state.
“There’s no doubt that Oregon and Beaverton will continue to play an important role,” Zemlin said.
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