The two main Linux bodies, the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group (FSG), have merged to form the Linux Foundation, announcing that they will provide a comprehensive set of services to compete effectively with closed platforms, which primarily means Microsoft Windows.

Founding platinum members of the Linux Foundation include Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell, and Oracle. Jim Zemlin, former executive director of the Free Standards Group, leads The Linux Foundation. Other members of the new organization include every major company in the Linux industry, including Red Hat, as well as community groups, universities and industry end users.

"Computing is entering a world dominated by two platforms: Linux and Windows. While being managed under one roof has given Windows some consistency, Linux offers freedom of choice, customization and flexibility without forcing customers into vendor lock-in," said Zemlin. "The Linux Foundation helps in the next stage of Linux growth by organizing the diverse companies and constituencies of the Linux ecosystem to promote, protect, and standardize Linux."

The Linux Foundation will continue to sponsor the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and other key developers and employ a shared resources strategy to collaborate on platform development.

OSDL and the FSG were important forces behind open source adoption and played key roles in preventing fragmentation of the Linux market.

According to the the Linux Foundation, for Linux to remain open and attain the greatest ubiquity possible, important services must be provided, including legal protection, standardization, promotion and collaboration.

Late last year, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer raised the spectre of patent challenges to Linux distributions, a view bolstered by an indemnity agreement signed between Microsoft and major Linux distributor Novell.

With Google's Gmail having gained notable adoption as an e-mail
service, the company is now pushing office apps such as word
processing, spreadsheets, document management, and sharing and
collaboration. Google's Docs & Spreadsheets, sporting technology from
the acquisition of Web 2.0 startup Writely last year, enables users
to collaborate around shared documents, view and edit online in real
time with others. And the service wisely provides the capability to
import traditional document types from Excel or OpenOffice and other
sources into the mix -- thus tying the online world to the legacy
desktop apps found in most corporations.

By Carolyn April
Executive Editor of Features, Redmond magazine


MICROSOFT VS. GOOGLE OFFICE SHOWDOWN?
Microsoft-vs.-Google enthusiasts, take heart: It's looking like 2007
will see the two foes up the stakes in their search battle by squaring
off over the desktop.

As you all well know, Microsoft is shopping Office 2007 and a host of
new and upgraded collaboration products. Not to be outdone, search
giant Google is amassing technologies and revving services to mount
its own potentially formidable entrance into the marketplace.
Microsoft's clearly got the installed-base edge and entrenched market
lead. But Google's got buzz and thus far has outpaced Microsoft Live
initiatives in the rapidly growing model for software as a service.

With Google's Gmail having gained notable adoption as an e-mail
service, the company is now pushing office apps such as word
processing, spreadsheets, document management, and sharing and
collaboration. Google's Docs & Spreadsheets, sporting technology from
the acquisition of Web 2.0 startup Writely last year, enables users
to collaborate around shared documents, view and edit online in real
time with others. And the service wisely provides the capability to
import traditional document types from Excel or OpenOffice and other
sources into the mix -- thus tying the online world to the legacy
desktop apps found in most corporations.

Meantime, Google has in beta trial its Google Apps for Your Domain
service that competes squarely against Microsoft's Office Live
service. Google Apps for Your Domain, like Office Live, is a set of
services that gets small business users up and running with a domain
name and Web site for their company, corporate e-mail addresses,
calendaring, online storage and other tools needed to establish a
business presence on the Web. In beta since August, the service has
already signed up "tens of thousands" of domains, according to Google
executives who spoke with Redmond magazine last week.

To see more of my Google interview with Jonathan Rochelle, product
manager of Docs & Spreadsheets, and Rajen Sheth, product manager of
Google Apps for Your Domain, please pick up the February issue of
Redmond Magazine, or read the story online near the end of this
month. In the meantime, I'd like to hear what you think about
Microsoft vs. Google on the desktop: Who's got game? Let me know
at capril@redmondmag.com.

On another note: I'm looking to hear from those of you who have tried
to figure out or dabbled in Microsoft's nascent -- some might say
weak -- attempts to stake some ground in the open source world. The
company has CodePlex, its community development project Web site, and
has released certain pieces of code as open source so that it's ISV
partners and IT professionals can modify away to their hearts'
content. But is this simply lip service, or is Microsoft genuinely in
the spirit?

What do you think of Microsoft's open source strategy, such as it is?
Write to me at capril@redmondmag.com.

Windows to the Universe