Yahoo Is Newest Member Of Linux Foundation

Yahoo has revealed that it is the newest member of the Linux Foundation, the non-profit organisation dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux.

Yahoo is a major enterprise Linux user and premier digital media company that today attracts more than half a billion consumers a month in more than 30 languages. Yahoo uses the Linux operating system as an integral part of its technical and developer infrastructure, the Linux Foundation said.

By joining The Linux Foundation, the company can maximise its investment in Linux while directly supporting the Linux community’s developer and legal efforts. Yahoo will contribute to The Linux Foundation’s working groups and initiatives focused on virtualisation, cloud computing and legal topics, such as open compliance. The company will also participate in Linux Foundation events, including The Linux Foundation End User Summit where it will interact with Linux kernel developers and other open source software experts.

Yahoo Commitment

Additional resources available to Yahoo for collaboration are The Linux Foundation’s End User and Vendor Councils, as well as its Technical Advisory Board (made up of key Linux kernel developers and maintainers).

“The Linux Foundation is host to a variety of very important Linux projects as well as resources, tools and events that allow us to maximize our investment in the platform,” said Raymie Stata, chief technology officer at Yahoo, in a statement. “Linux is an important software aspect of the World Wide Web and is one of several components that will continue to be used in the future of computing. Yahoo is excited to collaborate with The Linux Foundation and its peers to advance technologies that will help Linux achieve its promise.”

“Yahoo’s leadership and deep expertise in cloud computing and the web will provide valuable expertise that informs collaboration on Linux,” said Amanda McPherson, vice president of marketing and developer programs at The Linux Foundation, also in a statement. “We welcome Yahoo and look forward to its contributions to The Linux Foundation and Linux community.”

New Members

Yahoo’s 20 April announcement of its membership in the Linux Foundation follows by one day the announcement of Igalia as a member of the organisation. Igalia is an open source development company that offers consultancy services for desktop, mobile and web technologies. Igalia developers maintain and contribute code to a variety of open source projects, including GNOME, WebKit, MeeGo, the Linux kernel, freedesktop.org, Gstreamer and Qt.

Igalia has experience helping other companies contribute to upstream projects and take advantage of the open source development process. With a 10-year history in open source software, the company is joining The Linux Foundation to reaffirm its commitment to Linux and will focus its participation in initiatives that involve desktop, mobile, embedded and kernel development.

“The Linux Foundation is home to important community projects and one of the best forums to collaborate with other open source organizations. It is a natural step for us to formalise our relationship with this ecosystem,” said Juan Jose Sanchez, co-founder of Igalia, in a statement. “Through our Linux Foundation membership, we’re looking forward to deeper collaboration with projects like MeeGo and to support Linux Foundation work that increases open source adoption and understanding.”