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In order to help open-source products compete with proprietary platforms, the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group (FSG) are merging to form the Linux Foundation.

The merger must first be ratified by the members of both groups, but is expected to be completed in early February. "We need to provide services that are useful to the community and industry, as well as protect, promote and continue to standardize the [Linux] platform," explains Linux Foundation leader and former FSG executive director Jim Zemlin. The foundation will also make it possible for community members to contribute to technical work and even serve on the board of directors. "This organization needs to be responsive to everyone who has a big investment in the platform," said Zemlin. Competing with proprietary platforms in enterprise data center deployments will be a big concern of the foundation, as it looks to promote Linux in a "vendor neutral way," according to Zemlin. Other missions of the foundation are to provide a forum for Linus Torvalds to work on the new Linux development kernel, manage the Linux trademark, provide legal protection initiatives such as the Legal Defense Fund and the Patent Commons, and "develop a standard that enables backward compatibility and interoperability in the heterogeneous environments that characterize today's computing," says Zemlin. Those who have a strategic interest in the success of Linux, such as open-source vendors, will now be able to fund the cause through a single body.

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