Derek Djons
February 1st, 2006, 05:04 PM
From Osdir.com, sorry if it's old news.
Debian Founder Ian Murdock Appointed Chief Technology Officer of the Free Standards Group and Linux Standard Base Workgroup Chair
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The Free Standards Group (FSG), a not-for-profit organization that develops and promotes open source software standards, today announced Debian founder Ian Murdock has been appointed its chief technology officer and elected chair of the Linux Standard Base workgroup. As founder of Debian -- one of the most successful open source projects in history -- and commercial custom Linux platform provider Progeny, Murdock brings unmatched experience building open source communities, driving technical consensus and solving Linux distribution challenges. His experience will immediately enhance the open standards initiatives of the Free Standards Group and the Linux Standard Base.
Murdock will lead all technical initiatives for the FSG, including expanding the development communities involved in each of the FSG's workgroups, and will work directly with the open source community, software developers and systems and distribution vendors. As LSB workgroup chair, Murdock will assume the crucial leadership role immediately. As part of his position, Murdock will lead all activities of the workgroup and oversee the upcoming release of LSB 3.1, which adds desktop functionality to the ISO standard LSB core, as well as lead development of a roadmap for LSB 4.0 and beyond . Art Tyde continues as Chief Certification Officer and will led certification activities for the Free Standards Group.
Prior to joining the Free Standards Group, Ian was co-founder, chairman, and chief strategist of Progeny, a leading provider of custom Linux platform technology. A longtime Linux user, developer, and advocate, Ian founded the Debian project in 1993. Today, Debian is one of the most popular Linux distributions in the world, with millions of users worldwide. Debian is also widely considered one of the most successful and influential open source projects ever launched: More than 1,000 volunteers in all parts of the world are currently involved in Debian development, and the founding document of the open source movement itself was originally a Debian position statement. Ian was also a founding director of Linux International (1993-1995) and the Open Source Initiative (1998-2001) as well as an central contributor to the original Linux File Hierarchy Standard, predecessor of the LSB. Ian holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Purdue University.
"Bringing Ian to lead technical efforts for the FSG is a significant milestone in our quest to standardize Linux," said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Free Standards Group. "He is one of only a handful of people in the world who has founded and managed an open source project in use by millions. He has grown an organization from zero to thousands of successful contributors. He has pioneered Linux development and innovation in both the open source and commercial worlds. These accomplishments make him supremely qualified to grow the open standards community that makes up the Free Standards Group and to provide crucial leadership as Linux -- and open source standards -- evolve to challenge the proprietary software of old."
"Very quickly in my experience with Debian, I knew a standardized Linux was absolutely imperative to growing the Linux marketplace," said Murdock. "Developers need a simple way to target Linux, distribution vendors need a core base of functionality to differentiate on top of, and end users need choice and assurance. The Free Standards Group and the Linux Standard Base is the best hope for achieving these goals: it has the momentum, the member support and the community. By becoming CTO and LSB workgroup chair, I will do everything I can to strengthen Linux around a vendor-neutral, open standard that will increase the Linux market for all community participants."
Without open and commonly supported standards, open source is not possible. The FSG's workgroups represent the most important standardization projects in open source. The LSB helps software vendors target the Linux platform in a cost effective, low risk manner. This is crucial for the on-going success for Linux as it simplifies the development and porting of applications by ISVs. By supporting the LSB, application vendors can save millions of dollars by utilizing a clear set of standards in their development efforts. Open standards ensure Linux will not fork and will continue to be the fastest growing operating system in the industry.
Debian Founder Ian Murdock Appointed Chief Technology Officer of the Free Standards Group and Linux Standard Base Workgroup Chair
advertise
The Free Standards Group (FSG), a not-for-profit organization that develops and promotes open source software standards, today announced Debian founder Ian Murdock has been appointed its chief technology officer and elected chair of the Linux Standard Base workgroup. As founder of Debian -- one of the most successful open source projects in history -- and commercial custom Linux platform provider Progeny, Murdock brings unmatched experience building open source communities, driving technical consensus and solving Linux distribution challenges. His experience will immediately enhance the open standards initiatives of the Free Standards Group and the Linux Standard Base.
Murdock will lead all technical initiatives for the FSG, including expanding the development communities involved in each of the FSG's workgroups, and will work directly with the open source community, software developers and systems and distribution vendors. As LSB workgroup chair, Murdock will assume the crucial leadership role immediately. As part of his position, Murdock will lead all activities of the workgroup and oversee the upcoming release of LSB 3.1, which adds desktop functionality to the ISO standard LSB core, as well as lead development of a roadmap for LSB 4.0 and beyond . Art Tyde continues as Chief Certification Officer and will led certification activities for the Free Standards Group.
Prior to joining the Free Standards Group, Ian was co-founder, chairman, and chief strategist of Progeny, a leading provider of custom Linux platform technology. A longtime Linux user, developer, and advocate, Ian founded the Debian project in 1993. Today, Debian is one of the most popular Linux distributions in the world, with millions of users worldwide. Debian is also widely considered one of the most successful and influential open source projects ever launched: More than 1,000 volunteers in all parts of the world are currently involved in Debian development, and the founding document of the open source movement itself was originally a Debian position statement. Ian was also a founding director of Linux International (1993-1995) and the Open Source Initiative (1998-2001) as well as an central contributor to the original Linux File Hierarchy Standard, predecessor of the LSB. Ian holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Purdue University.
"Bringing Ian to lead technical efforts for the FSG is a significant milestone in our quest to standardize Linux," said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Free Standards Group. "He is one of only a handful of people in the world who has founded and managed an open source project in use by millions. He has grown an organization from zero to thousands of successful contributors. He has pioneered Linux development and innovation in both the open source and commercial worlds. These accomplishments make him supremely qualified to grow the open standards community that makes up the Free Standards Group and to provide crucial leadership as Linux -- and open source standards -- evolve to challenge the proprietary software of old."
"Very quickly in my experience with Debian, I knew a standardized Linux was absolutely imperative to growing the Linux marketplace," said Murdock. "Developers need a simple way to target Linux, distribution vendors need a core base of functionality to differentiate on top of, and end users need choice and assurance. The Free Standards Group and the Linux Standard Base is the best hope for achieving these goals: it has the momentum, the member support and the community. By becoming CTO and LSB workgroup chair, I will do everything I can to strengthen Linux around a vendor-neutral, open standard that will increase the Linux market for all community participants."
Without open and commonly supported standards, open source is not possible. The FSG's workgroups represent the most important standardization projects in open source. The LSB helps software vendors target the Linux platform in a cost effective, low risk manner. This is crucial for the on-going success for Linux as it simplifies the development and porting of applications by ISVs. By supporting the LSB, application vendors can save millions of dollars by utilizing a clear set of standards in their development efforts. Open standards ensure Linux will not fork and will continue to be the fastest growing operating system in the industry.