With Linux growing by leaps and bounds, two of the top organizations that guide its growth are finally joining forces. The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group (FSG) are forming one mega-organization, known as the "Linux Foundation."

The OSDL (Open Source Development Labs), based in Beaverton, Ore., has long supported Linux and other open-source programs. Its membership includes almost all significant Linux organizations and companies. After reorganization in December, in advance of this merger, the non-profit organization clarified its goals.

The OSDL began shifting its resources to focus on four main areas. First, it said it would continue to employ key open source developers, such as Linux creator Linus Torvalds and Andrew Morton, maintainer of the production Linux kernel. The organization also said it planned to increase its funding of legal support for Linux and open source. In particular, it would address licensing and patent issues. This expansion would complement current OSDL initiatives such as the Patent Commons, Osapa.org, and the Linux Legal Defense Fund. The group also said it planned to support ongoing regional activities such as the Japanese Linux Symposium, and will foster closer collaboration among community developers, OSDL members, and users to produce more code to advance open-source projects.

A prime example of the OSDL fostering collaboration among developers, organizations, and companies is the Portland Project and its efforts to bring rhyme and reason to the various Linux desktop projects. The Project, which was sponsored by the OSDL's Desktop Linux Working Group, has brought together KDE and GNOME developers, open-source programmers, and software vendors, to create the foundations for a standards-based Linux desktop.

The FSG's (Free Standards Group) membership list looks a great deal like the OSDL's. There's a reason for that. Both non-profits have almost identical goals. The main difference between them is much more a matter of where they spend their energies, than of any philosophical differences.

A quick look at the FSG's three major areas makes this clear. While the FSG doesn't employ developers, its main focus is on the LSB (Linux Standard Base) and its LSB test suite. The LSB is a set of standards that meant to enable application portability across all LSB-compliant Linux distributions, while the LSB test suite ensures that all LSB Certified distributions and applications comply with the LSB standard.

This is supported, in turn, by the Linux world's recently-launched answer to the MSDN (Microsoft Software Developer Network): the LSB Developer Network. Like MSDN, this site provides a central place for information, tools, and support for developers building applications deployable on multiple Linux distributions.

Finally, the FSG maintains an "LSB Certified" trademark and product directory -- a brand and marketplace that enable users who are looking for portable, standards-compliant solutions to find certified Linux applications and distributions. The brand is licensed to products that pass the LSB test suite, and represents interoperability for the Linux platform.

Besides these major pushes, the FSG also supports such efforts as an initiative to improve Linux software installation and OpenPrinting that work hand-in-glove with the OSDL's Portland Project.

When you look at what both groups do, at what both want to do, and at who supports them, the question isn't: "Why are the FSG and the OSDL are getting together to form the Linux Foundation?" It's: "What took them so long?"

Be that as it may, they are getting together now under the leadership of Jim Zemlin, the former executive director of the FSG. With Zemlin at the helm, the new organization will continue to operate in all of its current locations with all its present employees. The real change -- the change that matters -- is that some of Linux's leading developers and consensus builders will be working together. I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing what some of open source's best and brightest can do together.

Incidentally, both the OSDL's and the Free Standards Group's domain names already redirect to the new website of the Linux Foundation.