BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 5 – The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced that HP and Citrix are making a strategic, long-term investment in Linux by upgrading to Platinum and Gold memberships, respectively. Linux Foundation Platinum members include Fujitsu, IBM, Intel, NEC, Oracle, Qualcomm Innovation Center and Samsung. HP was previously a Gold member, while Citrix was previously a Silver member.

HP's business spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure. The company has long been a contributor to the Linux and open source software communities and is well known for its work on open operating systems as well as the open cloud. With many of its products already running Linux, including servers, printers, networking equipment and more, HP understands that computing is changing rapidly and is prioritizing Linux and collaborative development to advance its development for the future.

By becoming a Platinum member of The Linux Foundation, HP will have a seat on the Board of Directors and will be directly involved in advancing Linux-based initiatives, workgroups, Labs, events, and more that support its business goals.

"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."

"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.

Citrix is a committed supporter of open source software and is a significant participant in both Xen and Apache CloudStack. Both projects provide the underpinnings for some of the world's largest cloud computing environments. The Xen hypervisor is a virtualization technology that enables server virtualization, a critical capability for cloud computing. Apache CloudStack software orchestrates virtualized environments so that they can work as an elastic compute environment. Many of the world's leading telecommunications companies have chosen Citrix CloudPlatform, powered by Apache CloudStack and XenServer, as the foundation for their next generation cloud computing offerings.

Developers, DevOps professionals, end users and vendors are looking to the collaborative development model to accelerate cloud computing deployments and advance technology innovation in this area. As a leader in open cloud software, Citrix is prioritizing investments in the open development model. Its increased participation in Linux Foundation Labs, workgroups, events and other activities will help Citrix foster greater collaboration and participation in the open cloud and maximize its investment in Linux and open source software.

"Cloud computing represents a significant shift in the way technologies users consume IT services and how developers build those services. Linux and the collaborative development are paving the way for this shift," said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. "Citrix is taking an important leadership role in the open cloud by prioritizing Linux and collaborative development for advancing cloud computing industry-wide."

CloudStack is an open source cloud computing platform for creating, managing and deploying infrastructure services. The open source Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform is a key part of the Citrix strategy for competing in the future of enterprise computing. The company acquired the platform from Cloud.com in 2011 and earlier this year contributed the entire code base to the Apache Software Foundation.

The Linux Foundation provides a neutral environment where work on Linux, mobile and embedded development, open cloud, and more can be accelerated and advanced. It hosted the industry's first CloudOpen (http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/cloudopen) event in August and is home to more than 150 members

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2000, the organization sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and promotes, protects and advances the Linux operating system by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source development community. The Linux Foundation provides a neutral forum for collaboration and education by hosting Linux conferences, including LinuxCon, and generating original Linux research, Linux videos and content that advances the understanding of the Linux platform. Its web properties, including Linux.com, reach approximately two million people per month. The organization also provides extensive Linux training opportunities that feature the Linux kernel community's leading experts as instructors.

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Source: The Linux Foundation