Torvalds: Legal, Business Issues Did Not Factor Into Decision To Join OSDL
On Tuesday, the Open Source Development Lab in Beaverton, Ore., announced that Torvalds will join that organization as the first OSDL fellow.
In this role, Torvalds will devote himself full-time to the development of the kernel and guide thousands of open-source engineers that contribute code. He also will set priorities and direction for the OSDL's industry initiatives, the lab said.
The OSDL, founded in 2000, is aimed at promoting the growth of Linux and its adoption in the enterprise. The consortium is backed by more than 20 major vendors, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Cisco Systems, Dell Computer and Transmeta.
To date, Torvalds--who holds the trademark to the Linux brand name--has never worked in an official capacity for any Linux company and has steered clear of the business aspects of Linux.
That won't change, Torvalds told CRN in an e-mail.
Torvalds said he is focused only on the technology of Linux, not the business or legal issues, and is finally taking on an official role in the Linux world to concentrate on the kernel, particularly as the Linux 2.6 kernel approaches release.
"My concern for now is [Linux kernel] 2.6.x, and getting it out. Making a release is always painful, and it's a huge relief when it's done," said Torvalds in his e-mail. "I know I should care about customers and products, but I'm obviously somehow deficient, because I never could. I end up being excited about new technology, new things. This is the same reason I never end up maintaining stable kernel versions for too long either: I haven't even released 2.6.x yet but there's already a known 2.6.x maintainer that will take it over and I'll go on to work on [Linux kernel] 2.7.x. Not immediately--I'll wait for 2.6.x to stabilize, but I'd go crazy if I stayed in 'productization mode' for too long."
Torvalds also said he is looking for a new challenge. "I think part of it is just getting stuck in a rut and wanting to do something a bit different. But part of it is that Transmeta is such a different company than it was when I joined," Torvalds wrote.
While the OSDL is vendor-neutral, its CEO and chairman are former and current IBM executives committed to Linux adoption in the business community.
OSDL CEO Stuart Cohen spent 17 years at IBM and held senior positions in the U.S. sales and marketing division for the IBM PC Co. Ross Mauri, chairman of OSDL, is vice president of development at IBM Systems Group.
However, Torvalds said he remains staunchly vendor-neutral and will continue to work in California and not at the OSDL Lab in Beaverton.
"The role ends up being pretty much the same as far as outsiders can see, i.e., Linux kernel development. It's the setting, not the role, that is new and the fact that I can do it all the time," Torvalds told CRN. "Setting does matter, even if it's only because you end up talking with different people, and it influences you indirectly that way. But no, my aims haven't changed. Making the best OS you can, and having fun doing it, is the motto."
Torvalds' move comes as the development of Linux itself is under legal fire from The SCO Group, which has filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against IBM charging that Big Blue improperly donated Unix code to the open-source Linux kernel.
Torvalds dismissed any notion that his decision was motivated by the SCO-IBM legal battle.
"When it comes to things I can't much affect, I try to take a wait-and-see attitude and just mostly ignore it. So I try to largely ignore the legal spat, even if I secretly have to admit to a morbid curiosity," Torvalds wrote.
In characteristically humorous fashion, Torvalds insisted that Linux is on a strong track and that no lawsuit will derail it.
"I realize that some people have been following the SCO soap opera a bit too eagerly, but it does not bear on this thing," Torvalds said of his departure. "It also doesn't explain why the Europeans and the U.S. suddenly started sending probes to Mars. We are not evacuating the planet because of the SCO lawsuit. Really. No need to panic."
One analyst said it's time for a strong leader to work in an official capacity to steer the development of the kernel.
"The open-source community in general and the Linux community in specific has needed a center of gravity which would be neutral and yet could act as a bridge between the developers of the technology, the system and software suppliers, and the users," said Dan Kusnetzky, vice president of system software research at IDC."By taking the appointment as the first OSDL fellow, [it] will certainly help OSDL be an authoritative voice in the community and to officially contribute technology to the community."
Kusnetzky also dismissed the notion that Torvalds' new appointment will benefit any one vendor. "OSDL's board includes representatives of Oracle, HP, Intel, IBM and others," he said. "So I don't see any of the members getting an advantage that the others don't also have."