Two major pro-Linux organisations, the Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group (FSG), today announced an agreement to merge and form The Linux Foundation.

Founding 'platinum' members of The Linux Foundation include Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell and Oracle.

Jim Zemlin, former executive director of the FSG, will lead the new organisation. Other members include "every major company in the Linux industry" , as well as numerous community groups, universities and industry end users.

"Computing is entering a world dominated by two platforms: Linux and Windows. While being managed under one roof has given Windows some consistency, Linux offers freedom of choice, customisation and flexibility without forcing customers into vendor lock-in," said Zemlin.

"The Linux Foundation helps in the next stage of Linux growth by organising the diverse companies and constituencies of the Linux ecosystem to promote, protect and standardise Linux."

The Linux Foundation, which continues to sponsor the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds, outlined a shared resources strategy to collaborate on platform development while enhancing the Linux market for end users, the community, developers and industry.

According to the organisation, for Linux to remain open and attain the greatest ubiquity possible, important services must be provided, including legal protection, standardisation, promotion and collaboration.

It added that the group needs to recognise that successful proprietary software companies such as Microsoft do several important things well, such as backwards compatibility, promotion, interoperability and developer support.

"In the voluntary and distributed world of Linux development, the industry continues to successfully use the consortia model to rapidly improve these value attributes for Linux," the organisation stated.

"The Linux Foundation has been founded to help close the gap between open source and proprietary platforms, while sustaining the openness, freedom of choice and technical superiority inherent in open source software."