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"In 2008 we will see the Linux ecosystem applying a federation into one platform," said Jim Zemlin, director of The Linux Foundation. "A lot of Linux distros will compete in the marketplace. The particular flavor of Linux will matter in that different distros will cater to specific environments such as the Mobile Internet. All of these will center on the Linux Standard Base."
The closest thing to a CEO in Linux land is Jim Zemlin, executive director of The Linux Foundation. While Zemlin doesn't steer the Linux ship, he does a great deal to corral its competing interests. I caught up with Zemlin late last week to get a pulse on the state of Linux in the market. As ever, Zemlin didn't disappoint.
Standing at the headwaters of the ecosystem that is Linux is the Linux Foundation and its executive director Jim Zemlin. The Linux Foundation was forged out of the merger of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group in 2007 as a new group with a new mandate for Linux.
The Linux Foundation is now a year old. Formed by the 2007 merger of Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group and home to Linux's creator Linus Torvalds, the Foundation promotes the use of Linux through support for kernel development; the development of common definitions, standards and best practices; and resolution of legal issues.
In an interview, Jim Zemlin, the Linux Foundation's executive director, talks about desire to interoperate and discusses the desktop outlook for Linux.
Jim Zemlin: This is Jim Zemlin. I’m here with Mark Shuttleworth today as part of our ongoing conversations at the Linux Foundation with leaders in the Linux community and technology industry where we hope to get insight into the trends that are shaping the future of open source and Linux.
According to a report in the New York Times today, Intel's Moblin project is to move under the stewardship of the Linux Foundation. The Moblin project is designed to provide an open source Linux based operating system that supports Intel's Atom processors and that can be used on a variety of hardware from netbooks to in-car systems.
We live in the age of the spinmeister, the age when language is used more as a means to confuse than to educate, an age when obfuscation is preferred to clarification. Hence, one should not be surprised to find Jim Zemlin, the head of the Linux Foundation, referring to a face-to-face meeting of kernel developers and industry people as a "high bandwidth set of interactions."
