In 2010, Rackspace and NASA launched a project called OpenStack. It is intended to be an open source option for running AWS-style clouds within private data centers. The companies then moved OpenStack to the OpenStack Foundation. OpenStackFoundation is firmly shaking the project through many ups and downs. Now, due to the controversy over the licensing change to Broadcom’s VMware product, OpenStack is back up as businesses are looking for alternatives.
Today, the OpenInfrastructure Foundation (renamed in 2021 by the OpenStack Foundation after the OpenStack project lost steam) announced plans to become part of the Linux Foundation.
This brings three of the world’s largest and most active open source projects (Linux, Kubernetes, and OpenStack) under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation. It is worth noting that OpenInfra Foundation hosts many other projects besides OpenStack. These include the Kata Containers project for building more secure software containers, the software lifecycle management tool Airship, the CI/CD platform Zuul, and the edge computing platform Starlingx.
Over the years, there have also been ups and downs in the relationship between OpenInfra/OpenStack Foundation, and especially the Linux Foundation’s CNCF. In part, driven by the rapid rise in popularity of Kubernetes, driving success as the basis for CNCF, and opening Stack is now considered a legacy technology.
But today, the two organizations are already working closer together through open infrastructure blueprints.
“The data center infrastructure market is undergoing fundamental reinvention driven by the enormous demands of AI and the virtualization transition and digital sovereignty,” said Jonathan Bryce, longtime executive director of the OpenInfra Foundation. “The OpenInfra Foundation is already closely aligned with many of the projects housed in the Linux Foundation, which supports this reinvention, and timing is perfect for combining resources and building on the work of an organization driving this trillion dollar market. With the Linux Foundation, we can work closer and collaborate to develop, deploy and shape a future where open source continues to win.”
Meanwhile, Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, notes that the two organizations’ “communities closely linked to the rich history of partnerships will drive us on a shared mission of defending and moving forward the power and promises of open source.”
The idea here is that once this process is complete, OpenInfra Foundation will work inside the Linux Foundation. It remains to be seen what this means for OpenInfra Foundation staffing.
“The OpenInfra Foundation will enter 2025 with a strong momentum. The number of member organizations has increased by 15%, including two new Platinum members,” said Julia Kreger, chairman of the OpenInfra board of directors. “Our projects are thriving, with OpenStack adoption surges, and OpenInfra projects like Kata Containers, Starlingx and Zuul are experiencing an increase in adoption. The Linux Foundation will leverage the power of open source to combine the global community (110,000-Strong) and set the stage for continued success as they build infrastructure for the next decade.”
This is my last post on TechCrunch. Thank you for all the fish for a long time and for all the fish.