Linux Foundation Newsletter

In this month's Linux Foundation newsletter:

* Updated Study Reveals 10% Increase in Linux Kernel Developers
* Vote For Your Favorite Fake Linus Torvalds
* Last Week to Register for LinuxCon Training - Special 20% Discount
* Watch LinuxCon Keynotes Online for Free
* LinuxCon Kernel Roundtable Moderator Interviewed
* Members' Discounts for LF Events
* VIA Technologies, Inc. Joins Linux Foundation
* Zemlin to Keynote at Open World Forum
* Linux Foundation in the News
* From the Director

==> Updated Study Reveals 10% Increase in Linux Kernel Developers <==

After 16 months, The Linux Foundation has published an update to its April
2008 study on Linux kernel development. The new report, written by original
authors and kernel developers Jonathan Corbet and Greg Kroah-Hartman, and
the Linux Foundation's Amanda McPherson, reveals that a net of 2.7 million
additional lines of code have been added to the Linux kernel in those 16
months.

The August 2009 Update of "Linux Kernel Development: How Fast is it Going,
Who is doing it and Who is Sponsoring it?" illustrates a large and
distributed developer and corporate community that supports the expansion
and innovation of Linux, by companies which are otherwise fierce competitors
in other areas of technology.

The updated study reveals that since April 2008, there has been a 10 percent
increase in the number of developers contributing to each kernel release.
This level of activity has resulted in an average of 5.45 patches being
accepted per hour, an increase of 42 percent since the original study.

To read the results of the study, download the whitepaper at
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publications/whowriteslinu...

==> Vote For Your Favorite Fake Linus Torvalds <==

Taking a page from the popular FakeSteveJobs blog, we've invited four
well-known industry and community leaders to guest tweet as if they were the
real Linus Torvalds during the weeks leading up to LinuxCon.

These FakeLinusTorvalds (FLTs) will be tweeting live from our Identi.ca
(linuxfoundation) and Twitter feeds beginning today, and their identities
will be revealed at LinuxCon, directly after the Kernel Panel, featuring the
real Linus Torvalds, on September 21, 2009.

Details on the FLTs, which include in-depth bios and a cutting-edge music
video, can be found at http://www.linux.com/fakelinustorvalds.

During the final two weeks prior to LinuxCon, we're inviting you to vote for
your favorite FLT at Linux.com. The winner will be chosen based on community
vote and will be presented with the "coveted" "Silver Penguin" award on
stage at the conference.

Vote for your Fake Linux Torvalds at
http://www.linux.com/community/polls/vote-for-your-favori...

For more information about LinuxCon, visit
http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linuxcon
To register, visit
http://events.linuxfoundation.org/component/registrationp...

==> Last Week to Register for LinuxCon Training - Special 20% Discount <==

This is the last week to register for LinuxCon Training. Register now for
The Kernel Debugging and Performance Tuning course, which runs Sept 19 & 20,
and receive a special 20 percent discount. Enter code LFLT when registering.


To learn more about this and other LF Training courses, visit
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/linux-training/schedule.

==> Watch LinuxCon Keynotes Online for Free <==

Because of the tough economic climate and its effect on corporate travel,
the Linux Foundation wants to make sure Linux users and developers all over
the world can participate in LinuxCon without leaving their home locations.

Now users can watch and participate in LinuxCon keynotes for free by
registering at http://streaming.linux-magazin.de/en/program-linuxcon.htm.
Additionally, if visitors want to see all three days of conference sessions,
they can register for the Live Streaming conference for US$99, which
includes access to the archived sessions after the event. Users can sign up
for the archived sessions after LinuxCon for US$49.

For more information on the conference video stream and registration, visit
http://streaming.linux-magazin.de/en/program-linuxcon.htm.

==> LinuxCon Kernel Roundtable Moderator Interviewed  <==

One of the more popular sessions at LinuxCon will be the Linux Kernel
Roundtable, featuring several notable kernel developers, including Jonathan
Corbet and Linus Torvalds. Moderating the Roundtable is James Bottomley,
Distinguished Engineer at Novell, Director of the Linux Foundation and Chair
of its Technical Advisory Board. Bottomley is Linux Kernel maintainer of the
SCSI subsystem, the Linux Voyager port and the 53c700 driver.

Linux.com recently interviewed Bottomley to find out what his goals for the
Roundtable are, where he believes the Linux kernel is now, and where it's
going.

To read the interview, visit
http://www.linux.com/news/featured-blogs/168-brian-proffi...

For more information about the Kernel Roundtable, visit
http://linuxcon.linuxfoundation.org/meetings/1564
To register for LinuxCon, visit
http://events.linuxfoundation.org/component/registrationp...

==> Members' Discounts for LF Events <==

Linux Foundation members have a great last chance to register at a discount
for LinuxCon, happening in Portland, Oregon on September 21-23, 2009. Visit
the LinuxCon registration site at
http://events.linuxfoundation.org/component/registrationp...
enter code LFLC30 to receive an exclusive 30 percent members'
discount.

Next month is our next exciting event, the Japan Linux Symposium (JLS).
Co-located with the 2009 Linux Kernel Summit, the JLS is the newest Linux
conference in Asia Pacific and it promises to bring together a unique blend
of core developers, administrators, users, community managers and industry
experts. It is designed not only to encourage collaboration but to support
future interaction between Japan and other Asia Pacific countries and the
rest of the global Linux community.

To learn more about the JLS, visit
http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/japan-linux-symp.... Visit
http://events.linuxfoundation.org/component/registrationp...
enter code JLS15 to receive a 15 percent members' discount.

==> VIA Technologies, Inc. Joins Linux Foundation <==

The Linux Foundation has announced that VIA Technologies, Inc. has become
its newest member.

VIA offers highly integrated low power x86 processor platforms that are
being adopted in a wide range of netbooks, notebooks, desktops, servers, and
embedded devices from leading brand names such as Dell, HP and Lenovo.

VIA is among a growing number of processor platform vendors that recognize
the importance of working with the Linux community. By collaborating at the
technical and business levels, VIA can ensure its hardware and the
technology of its partners are supported in the Linux kernel releases. The
company opened its specifications and code and began to adhere to a
quarterly release schedule more than a year ago. This move allows open
source developers to easily support VIA's components.

http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/peripherals/43792-via-...

==> Zemlin to Keynote at Open World Forum <==

Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin has been invited to deliver a
keynote address at this year's Open World Forum in Paris, France. Co-founded
and sponsored by Linux Foundation member Bull, Open World Forum 2009, which
will bring together all the key players in the Free/Libre and Open Source
Software (FLOSS) ecosystem to cross-fertilize initiatives for innovation and
economic growth along the theme "Open Source: At The Heart of the Digital
Recovery."

Zemlin's talk, entitled "Moblin, Chrome, Android, Ubuntu, etc: What's the
Deal with Linux on the Desktop?", takes a look back at the big moves that
drove Linux to dominate the server and super computing markets and how we
are seeing similar trends start now in the desktop.

For more information on Open World Forum, scheduled for October 1-2, 2009,
visit http://openworldforum.org.

==> Linux Foundation in the News <==

V3.co.uk: Microsoft Could Hand Patents to Linux Firms
The agreement is yet another twist in the ongoing saga between Microsoft and
the open-source community. Open-source developers have long complained that
Microsoft has not provided enough access to its products as agreed on in its
anti-trust settlement. Microsoft, for its part, has made renewed efforts to
connect with Linux developers. Earlier this year the company joined forces
with the Linux Foundation to overhaul controversial software licensing
legislation.
(http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2249112/microsoft-hand-patent...)

Computerworld: Who Writes Linux: Big Business
The Linux Foundation has just released a new report on who writes Linux, and
guess what? Linux isn't written by lonely nerds hiding out in their parents'
basements. It's written by people working for major companies--many of them
businesses that you probably don't associate with Linux.
(http://blogs.computerworld.com/14576/who_writes_linux_big...)

ChannelWeb: Fake Linux Torvalds Set For Web Vitriol Barrage
You've probably heard of Fake Steve Jobs. Now get ready for Fake Linus
Torvalds. The Linux Foundation is running a contest in which four different
Fake Linus Torvalds will post Twitter messages from the Identi.ca
(linuxfoundation) and Twitter feeds (www.twitter.com/linuxfoundation), all
in an attempt to portray themselves as the most compelling facsimile to the
father of Linux.
(http://www.crn.com/software/219500346)

The Register: Linux Guru: Interface Innovation is the Challenge
Novell distinguished engineer James Bottomley believes Linux desktop
environments need a dose of open source ingenuity rather than ape ideas from
Windows and OS X. Bottomley, who also wears the hat of Director of the Linux
Foundation and chair of its technical advisory board, says the next
challenge for Linux as a whole is to take the lead in interface
advancements. He described his position today in an interview with Brian
Proffitt on the Linux Foundation blog.
(
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/27/james_bottomley_l...
)

Wired: Aug. 25, 1991: Kid From Helsinki Foments Linux Revolution
The Linux Foundation, a nonprofit group chartered with the task of promoting
Linux and fostering its development, estimates the Linux ecosystem will
reach the $50 billion mark by 2011, as the software continues to make
inroads on PC desktops, netbooks, servers, mobile phones and embedded
devices like TV set-top boxes, GPS units, and media players. Now, the Linux
kernel is kept up to date by thousands of programmers from around the world.
Most of them are volunteer contributors or work under the sponsorship of
corporations like IBM, HP and Intel. Torvalds himself is now sponsored by
the Linux Foundation and continues to work on the Linux kernel full-time. In
other words, it's no longer "just a hobby."
(http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/08/0825-torvalds-...)

==> From the Director <==

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal's Nick Wingfield broke a story on
Microsoft selling a group of patents to a third party. The end result of
this story is good for Linux, even though it doesn't placate fears of
ongoing attacks by Microsoft. Open Invention Network, working with its
members and the Linux Foundation, pulled off a coup, managing to acquire
some of the very patents that seem to have been at the heart of recent
Microsoft FUD campaigns against Linux. Break out your white hats: the good
guys won.

The details are that Microsoft assembled a package of patents "relating to
open source" and put them up for sale to patent trolls. Microsoft thought
they were selling them to AST, a group that buys patents, offers licenses to
its members, and then resells the patents. AST calls this their "catch and
release" policy. Microsoft would certainly have known that the likely buyer
when AST resold their patents in a few months would be a patent troll that
would use the patents to attack non-member Linux companies. Thus, by selling
patents that target Linux, Microsoft could help generate fear, uncertainty,
and doubt about Linux, without needing to attack the Linux community
directly in their own name.

Read more at "Protecting Linux from Microsoft (Yes, Microsoft Got Caught)"
http://www.linux.com/news/featured-blogs/158-jim-zemlin/4...
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