Standing at the headwaters of the ecosystem that is Linux is the Linux Foundation and its executive director Jim Zemlin. The Linux Foundation was forged out of the merger of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group in 2007 as a new group with a new mandate for Linux.

Increasingly, reading what is actually said is a dying art. This impression had a boost last week from the reactions to comments made by Jim Zemlin, the executive director of The Linux Foundation in an interview with InfoWorld entitled "Linux Foundation: "We'd love to work with Microsoft."

The Linux Foundation is now a year old. Formed by the 2007 merger of Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group and home to Linux's creator Linus Torvalds, the Foundation promotes the use of Linux through support for kernel development; the development of common definitions, standards and best practices; and resolution of legal issues.

Linux needs to recognise Microsoft's leadership in some areas to better itself, Jim Zemlin, executive director for the Linux Foundation told delegates at the Linuxworld tradeshow in San Fransisco.

At the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit (which I attended on June 13), Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, accurately portrayed that the Linux movement has changed

In an interview, Jim Zemlin, the Linux Foundation's executive director, talks about desire to interoperate and discusses the desktop outlook for Linux.

To hear Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin tell it, the operating system war is over and Linux has won. “Linux represents the ultimate flight to safety in troubled times,” he said while offering some predictions for 2009.

In the third of a series of interviews by Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin, Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian (right) insisted his company is not being hurt by its association with Microsoft.

"In 2008 we will see the Linux ecosystem applying a federation into one platform," said Jim Zemlin, director of The Linux Foundation. "A lot of Linux distros will compete in the marketplace. The particular flavor of Linux will matter in that different distros will cater to specific environments such as the Mobile Internet. All of these will center on the Linux Standard Base."