Linux Foundation Branches Out: 10 Efforts Beyond Linux

by Sean Michael Kerner

The OpenMAMA project is an effort that got started in 2011 as a way to provide an open-source implementation of the Middleware Agnostic Messaging API (MAMA) used by financial services firms.

Among the most closely aligned projects with the Linux Foundation is the FOSSBazaar effort, which is all about providing the tools and resources required to help enterprises adopt and use open-source technologies.

Also somewhat aligned with Linux is the Tizen effort, which is all about building an open-source mobile phone. The Linux Foundation previously led the MeeGo effort, which was originally started by Nokia, and is not currently being actively developed.

When the Linux Foundation got started, the embedded Linux community was very fragmented. The Yocto Project is an effort to help companies build embedded Linux distributions for whatever purpose they choose.

Among the newest Linux Foundation collaboration projects is the Allseen Alliance. The effort got started at the end of 2013, led by a code contribution from Qualcomm and its AllJoyn project for enabling the Internet of things.

There are multiple forms of virtualization that can run on Linux as well as other operating systems. One of them is the open-source Xen virtualization technology, which was being run largely by Citrix until project oversight was handed over to the Linux Foundation in April 2013.

The Open Virtualization Alliance, a collaboration effort hosted by the Linux Foundation, is an effort to advance the state and adoption of Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology.

In August 2013, the Linux Foundation started the OpenBEL (Biological Expression Language) collaboration project. “Companies in the biotech sector want to take advantage of the Linux Foundation’s services and knowledge to accelerate development of OpenBEL,” Amanda McPherson, vice president of marketing and developer programs at the Linux Foundation, told eWEEK when the effort launched.

The OpenDaylight Project at the Linux Foundation is a multi-stakeholder effort to enable software-defined networking (SDN) that issued its first platform release last week. Among the members of the OpenDaylight Project is Linux’s primary rival, Microsoft.

Not only has the Linux Foundation developed expertise in hosting projects, it has developed expertise in hosting large developer events too. That’s why the Apache Software Foundation got the Linux Foundation to help coordinate the upcoming ApacheCon event in Denver April 7-9.