The Linux Foundation said on Monday that Hewlett-Packard is making a "strategic, long-term investment in Linux" by upgrading its membership from Gold to Platinum. This latter group of elite members also includes Fujitsu, IBM, Intel, NEC, Oracle, Qualcomm Innovation Center and Samsung.
The Linux Foundation, established in 2000, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux. It sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and provides a neutral environment where work on the platform – including mobile, embedded, open cloud and more – can be accelerated and advanced.
The $500,000 upgrade in HP's membership means that the company will now have a seat on the Board of Directors. The company will also be directly involved in advancing Linux-based initiatives, workgroups, Labs, events, and more that support its business goals.
"Linux is a strategic asset for all major technology companies. With our Linux Foundation Platinum membership, we will have a variety of ways to maximize our investment in Linux and collaborative development that advances our own business as well as greater industry innovation," said Eileen Evans, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Cloud Computing and Open Source, HP.
HP has long been a contributor to the open source software and Linux communities, and known for its work on open operating systems and the open cloud. It currently sells the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), and Canonical Ubuntu distributions of Linux. It also sells a wide range of Linux-based products like HP BladeSystem Servers, the ProLiant Servers, printers, networking equipment and more.
"With one of the richest and most recognized stories in technology, HP has a history of innovation and market success,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. "Because of this history and innate knowledge of software development, HP understands that Linux and collaborative development can benefit its business across its product portfolio. We’re looking forward to the work we can accomplish with HP."
Currently the Linux Foundation has more than 150 members including AMD, Google, Motorola, ARM, Nokia, Sony, Panasonic, Toyota, Adobe, Hitachi and many, many more.
