Is it Time for the Linux Foundation to be Renamed? [VIDEO]

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When Jim Zemlin helped to start the Linux Foundation back in 2007, it was an organization with a singular purpose: to help grow and enable the Linux ecosystem. Now in 2015, the Linux Foundation is more than just Linux, and has helped to enable multiple open source foundations and efforts, including the Cloud Foundry Foundation, the node.js Foundation, the Open Container Initiative, the OpenDayLight, and Let’s Encrypt projects.

In a video interview, Zemlin discusses foundation building and talks about why the Linux Foundation is likely to keep growing.

In some respects, the Linux Foundation now provides ‘Foundation as a Service,’ though that’s not the the goal that Zemlin has. Given the broader efforts of the Linux Foundation in 2015, Zemlin also has no plans to rename the Linux Foundation either.

“I do think there is a lot of value in the reputation that the name Linux implies, in terms of it being the most successful open source project in the world,” Zemlin said.

Zemlin said that the Linux Foundation is working with a broad spectrum of open source projects, and those project are all independently governed with their own funding structures. Each of the projects has a technical board that is separate from the business board.

By working with so many efforts, the Linux Foundation is able to leverage best practices across the projects for different element including security, training and governance as well as development and community building.

From a Linux Foundation perspective, each project has its own focus and is not centrally managed. As such, the Linux Foundation can continue to scale the number of projects and open source foundations that it can enable.

“I don’t know what the magic number is, but I certainly see a large capacity for us to continue to grow,” Zemlin said.

Watch the full video interview with Jim Zemlin below:

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at Datamation and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist