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.

"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."

A new report out today from IDC, sponsored by Linux vendor Novell indicates that the current economic downturn is a good thing for Linux adoption. with more than half of the IT executives surveyed planning to accelerate Linux adoption in 2009.

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.

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.

Today marks the start of the fourth annual Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit. I exchanged emails with Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, about the Summit, and the state of Linux in general.

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.

Increasingly, reading what is actually said is a dying art. This impression had a boost last week from the reactions to comments made by Jim Zemlin, the executive director of The Linux Foundation in an interview with InfoWorld entitled "Linux Foundation: "We'd love to work with Microsoft."

In an interview, Jim Zemlin, the Linux Foundation's executive director, talks about desire to interoperate and discusses the desktop outlook for Linux.