amcpherson's blog

New York Times reporter Ashlee Vance reported today on the Linux Foundation’s Open Compliance program and how we work closely with the individual defenders of free and open source software.

We’ve added another installment to our free training series on The Linux Foundation’s Training site: An Introduction to Git, the version control system built by Linus Torvalds.

Last week at LinuxCon, we presented a lot of great content for business leaders in the world of Linux and open source. (Al Gillen of IDC, Jeffrey Hammond of Forester, among others.). One of my favorite sessions was from Jean Staten Healy, Director of IBM Worldwide Linux Strategy who looked at Linux in the minds of CIOs and how it’s changed.

We are extremely lucky to have the support of so many who are individual members of the Linux Foundation. Their  $99/year membership helps ensure we can continue  protecting, promoting and advancing Linux and support the work of Linus Torvalds himself.

Coming out of Computex, there’s been a lot of momentum for Meego,  the Linux-based platform that can power multiple computing devices, including handsets, netbooks, tablets, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems. Ibrahim Haddad, the Linux Foundation director of technology and alliances, has just published a new article, “An Introduction to the Meego Project.”

Software compliance isn’t exactly the sexiest topic we tackle at the Linux Foundation, but it’s one of the most important. While we focus *our* efforts on open source software, the vast majority of software compliance efforts are focused on proprietary licenses. Just ask a CIO of an enterprise who has been audited by one of their software suppliers recently, or look at the well funded efforts of the Business Software Alliance, an organization dedicated to stamping out piracy and keeping companies in compliance with their members.

While it may not equal the hysteria of the iPad or the latest Android release, the news last week ranking the top 500 Super Computers in the world is significant, especially if you’re a Linux user. Why? Because Linux continues to dominant super computing. This year it’s added to its domination and occupies 470 of the top 500 spots. (The rest: 25 with Unix, mainly AIX, and Windows with only 5.) A detailed look at the OS breakdown can be found here.

It’s been a hectic few months narrowing down the content for this year’s LinuxCon. Craig Ross and I have been working on this schedule for what seems like years, but we are very proud to announce it today. You can find it here.

Last week, we had our fourth annual Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit. In the years since our first one at Google in 2007, quite a bit has changed: more mobile content, a bigger audience and a broader collection of developers, industry people and users solving real technical and legal challenges facing the platform. (We also all got free Linux phones.) Another big change? For the first time we offered live streaming of day one to anyone who registered.