The Linux Foundation is an organization that I have been deeply involved in for many years. I was a founder and Board member of the Free Standards Group (FSG) when we merged it and Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) to create The Linux Foundation in 2007. (For open source history buffs, technically The Linux Foundation states that as the legal successor of OSDL, it was founded in 2000).
I have always seen The Linux Foundation’s role as the steward of the shared ecosystem that allows us to accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption much more than just “the place where Linus works.”
When I joined VMware last summer, one of my goals was to step up our engagement in this ecosystem. To me that meant many things:
- Improve our internal processes around open source;
- Increase our contributions to the open source communities;
- Release more of our own work as open source projects; and,
- To double down on our engagement with The Linux Foundation.
A member of The Linux Foundation since 2008, VMware upgraded its membership from Silver to Gold earlier this year. Following that change, I decided to run for one of the Board seats allocated to the group of Gold members. I’m thrilled to serve as a representative of an impressive group of companies on the Board. And I look forward to working with Jim and the rest of the Board to continue the work towards our shared goal: open technologies that help our customers to more successful outcomes.
In so many ways, it feels like I have been doing this forever. And in so many ways, the work has just begun. I look forward to this next chapter.
