JOIN THE LINUX FOUNDATION
Our members are a powerful force for open innovation
Partner with development communities to create a force-multiplier to supercharge the future of open technology.
Together we can move markets and help support critical code
100%
of supercomputers use Linux
~95%
of public cloud providers use Kubernetes
70%
of global mobile subscribers use devices run on network operators using ONAP
50%
of global auto shipments supported by OEMs using Automotive Grade Linux
50%
of the Fortune Top 50 enterprise blockchain deployments use Hyperledger
1 Billion
security certificates issued by the largest certificate authority in the world: Let’s Encrypt
Your contributions and support help the Foundation to provide its supporting programs that enable its many hosted open source project communities to thrive. In addition to the opportunities presented by networking, learning, and working with other member organizations that are using and contributing to Linux Foundation open source projects, there are many other benefits associated with a membership that include Marketing, Training, and Event opportunities.
Why Join the Linux Foundation?
- Your membership supports other Linux Foundation organizations such as LetsEncrypt.org, Kernel.org, overall development of the Linux kernel, and salaries for full-time fellows such as Linus Torvalds, Greg Kroah-Hartman, and Shuah Khan.
- Your membership supports open source security initiatives such as OpenSSF and the Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII). The Linux Foundation funds critical security research, providing developers access to security tooling, free secure coding education, security audits, and facilitating an industry response to security challenges.
- Your membership enables the Foundation to provide travel and mentorship funding to help train and engage future contributors to open source communities.
- Your membership supports essential IP protection for open source, including our support for the Unified Patents open source zone that benefits all users and vendors using open source.1
- Your membership enables foundational legal work to improve the quality (licensing, export controls, trademark programs, privacy programs, etc.) of our upstream projects that you incorporate into your products and solutions.
- Your membership supports the creation of best practices materials covering each stage of your open source journey. Materials include foundational value proposition materials, setting up and running an open source program office, compliance workflows, tooling, contribution practices, templates, and enterprise management practices.
- Enables the LF to operate as a global organization with operations spanning the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, China, Australia, and Japan.
- Support foundational research on open source, including our partnership with the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard University on security and open source topics.
- Enables a legal structure for projects to be created under a neutral governance model.
- Your membership enables diversity and inclusion programs, allowing us to offer registration scholarships to LF events, mentorship programs, diversity & socioeconomic need-based travel funding (not limited to LF events).
- We also offer programs onsite at LF events supporting diversity & inclusion efforts that your membership supports, including free childcare, onsite nursing room/milk storage, onsite prayer rooms, pronoun and preferred communication badge stickers, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages at evening events, diversity social events, complimentary kids day coding workshop alongside OSSNA annually, conference session videos freely available online, and other initiatives.
Project Benefits
- Can sponsor a project for hosting at the LF; each project requires at least one member sponsor.
- Join as a supporting member of subprojects under the LF.
- Contribute articles promoting your favorite open source projects to linux.com, a website that receives over 1 million unique visitors per month.
Strategic Guidance and Best Practices
- The opportunity for your open source program office to participate in the TODO Group (todogroup.org) and Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF).
- Introductions to other Linux Foundation members and hosted projects of interest to expand business opportunities.
Kernel Mentor
- For those members new to contributing to the Linux kernel, be assigned a Technical Advisory Board Kernel Mentor to coach your lead developer via email on how to integrate into the Linux kernel community.
Access To LFX Insights: Technical and Ecosystem Trends For Your Projects
LFX Insights (Technical Trends) is a new analytics tool that is provided to all open source projects hosted by the Linux Foundation. Its capabilities include:
- Getting the visibility you need to remove bottlenecks at any stage of your project’s code pipeline. Drill down into performance metrics across every step in the development lifecycle to identify where you should be focusing your resources.
- Ensuring the health and viability of the open source projects you care about. Leverage data to help validate projects for investment, and track the activity and growth of projects your organization is already involved in.
- Showcasing your organization’s leadership and subject matter expertise in the open source community. Leverage affiliations to measure the impact of your employees’ contributions and capture the full picture of your team’s impact
In addition to the use of the other LFX tools provided by the Linux Foundation, access to LFX Insights (Ecosystem Trends) tool is available to Silver members and above, which provides additional visibility into tracking your project’s performance beyond code with a more holistic view of your ecosystem. Identify opportunities to grow your community and increase awareness with ecosystem trend metrics including share of voice, top influencers, email list collaborators, and more.
Foundation as a Service Support
The LF is a federation of foundations and provides a back-office infrastructure for projects and initiatives so they can focus on delivering value for their community.
Finance, accounting, and human resources
- Profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow management
- Treasury
- Budgeting and quarterly forecasting
- Monthly financial reporting to the Project Budget and Finance Committee and consultation with The Linux Foundation’s finance team
- Payroll and benefits access and administration for project staff members
- Legal and tax compliance
- Accounts receivable and accounts payable management, including follow up with project members as needed regarding payment and management of pass-through expenses for third parties such as international public relations partners
Operational infrastructure and support
- Access to and support on the infrastructure operated by The Linux Foundation, including Salesforce, ADP, NetSuite, Bill.com, and Expensify to manage finances as well as membership and business development information
- Domain management, trademark management
Business leadership and shared resources
- Access to and support from The Linux Foundation management team regarding industry matters and governance issues such as the IP policy
Linux Foundation Membership Levels
| Silver Membership | Gold Membership | Platinum Membership |
|---|---|---|
| Events Benefits:
Training Benefits Legal Benefits Marketing Benefits | All of the Silver membership benefits plus…
A potential seat on the Board of Directors — nominate someone for a Gold Board seat on the LF Board or participate by voting in the next representative for the Gold ( up to 3 for the Gold member class ) Events Benefits: Training Benefits (Replaces Silver Benefit): Legal Benefits: Marketing Benefits Additional Benefits | All of the Gold membership benefits plus…
A Dedicated seat on the LF Board of Directors. Events Benefits: Legal Benefits: Additional Benefits |