OpenInfra board calls for input on joining Linux Foundation [LWN.net]

Jonathan Bryce has announced two open community meetings to hear input on the topic of the OpenInfra Foundation migrating to the Linux Foundation. Bryce wrote that the OpenInfra board has carefully evaluated its options, and sees joining the Linux Foundation as the best way forward.

Like the Linux Foundation, the OpenInfra Foundation is 501(c)(6) nonprofit. According to the FAQ, OpenInfra "is in great health, financially and otherwise" with a growth in membership of about 15% in the last year. However, its needs in 2025 are different than when it was founded as the OpenStack Foundation in 2012.

While the opportunities ahead for open source to make a positive impact on the world are greater than they have ever been, the challenges are more significant as well, particularly with respect to regulations, licensing and geopolitical tensions that threaten global collaboration.

The meetings will be held on February 11 and February 13 as Zoom calls. The OpenInfra board will schedule a vote after feedback has been collected and draft governance documents have been published.

Sad

Posted Feb 7, 2025 20:58 UTC (Fri) by josh (subscriber, #17465) [Link] (1 responses)

It's sad to see one of the larger independent foundations considering folding itself into LF. LF is already far too big and has too many projects, most of which would be healthier elsewhere.

Sad

Posted Feb 18, 2025 18:44 UTC (Tue) by mdolan (subscriber, #104340) [Link]

I disagree completely, but I work for the LF and helped many of those projects figure out their ideal future path. They come to the LF for a reason - or many reasons - every one of them. The LF doesn't tell them they have to go under the LF. They stay for many reasons too. The amount of work it takes to grow and maintain an open source technology community with a global operation is not small. Most people who start or get involved in a project like having someone provide them the backend tools, processes, and infrastructure to support their collaboration without having to become an expert in nonprofit law, regulations, tax schemes around the work, financial systems, treasury management, contracts, legal, dealing with procurement and onboarding, figuring out sponsors and maintaining executive supporters, figuring out marketing systems and what to do with PII, invoicing, POs, contractor management, maintaining a team to manage CI/CD build systems, release engineering support, hiring around the world, setting up and maintaining entities around the world to transact locally etc. And that's just off the top of my head.

A professional organization helping open source projects and their leadership do all this work is not "Sad" IMO.

What are the real benefits ?

Posted Feb 8, 2025 12:52 UTC (Sat) by laurent.pinchart (subscriber, #71290) [Link] (1 responses)

What strikes me as odd, when reading the FAQ and other information I could find, is how few clear benefits are outlined. The FAQ goes to great length to explain how most things will stay the same, and only the third item ("Why is the Board considering this, and why now?") provides some type of rationale. It stays very high-level and vague, without listing clear benefits, and without exploring how some of the goals (e.g. "contribute to a common effort to engage with policymakers") could be achieved by collaboration instead of absorption. What would the Linux Foundation really bring to the OpenInfra community, beside grabbing a fair share of their financial resources ?

What are the real benefits ?

Posted Feb 10, 2025 12:04 UTC (Mon) by pgarciaq (guest, #153687) [Link]

Visibility is probably the main benefit. OpenStack (which is still the main OI project) will have a lot more visibility as part of the LF.

OpenInfra board calls for input on joining Linux Foundation

no hope :(

Sad

Sad

What are the real benefits ?

What are the real benefits ?