Samsung joins the top table at Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation has announced it is welcoming Samsung to the non-profit organisation as a Platinum sponsor. This is the highest level of sponsorship of the organisation and will see Samsung pay $500,000 a year to fund the Foundation's operations and take a seat alongside the other Platinum sponsors: IBM, Intel, Fujitsu, NEC, Oracle and Qualcom Innovation Center. Samsung has previously been a Silver sponsor of the Foundation.

Samsung uses Linux throughout the products it manufactures. Linux powers its range of Smart TV systems and its Android-based Galaxy smartphones. The company also invests in developing Linux solutions: it is working with Intel on the Tizen mobile phone project and has previously run its own Linux phone development projects using Enlightenment-inspired user interfaces. According to the Foundation, Samsung will be working to streamline how it works with the kernel community and to adopt open source best practices.

The Foundation's executive director, Jim Zemlin, told the New York Times that Samsung's commitment to the Foundation "would make it a global leader in open source" and would help it compete with Apple. WonJoo Park, a Samsung Electronics Vice President, said that the company was "looking forward to increasing collaboration and support for our growing portfolio of Linux-based devices and to making contributions that advance Linux for all".

(djwm)