The TODO Group and the Linux Foundation: Marrying Open Source and the Enterprise

Using open-source software is easy, getting your company to integrate open-source development is hard. The Linux Foundation and the TODO Group aim to change this.

Everyone uses open source. Almost everyone develops in open source -- yes, even Microsoft -- but getting corporations onboard with open source is still a problem. In part, Linux Foundation chairman Jim Zemlin explained in the Linux Collaboration Summit keynote speech, that's because "There is a mismatch between business's desire and capability to participate in open source." The answer? Partner with the TODO Group to bring businesses up to speed with open source.

The TODO Group is a cross-industry effort to focus on establishing best practices, tools and programs to support corporate open-source engagement. It was formed in November 2014. Today, its members include Dropbox, Facebook, GitHub, Google, HPE, Microsoft, Twitter, Walmart Labs, and Yahoo. New members include Autodesk, CapitalOne, and SanDisk. Now it's going under the Linux Foundation umbrella as a Foundation project.

If many of those don't sound like open-source companies to you, you haven't been paying attention."From car-makers and banks to retailers and hospitals, every industry relies on open-source software, and every company is an Internet company," said Zemlin. "The TODO Group reaches across industries to collaborate with open source technical and business leaders to share best practices, tools and programs for building dependable, effective projects for the long term"...