The votes are in, confirming that the Open Infrastructure Foundation intends to join the Linux Foundation.
The vote was unanimous. It was also unthinkable a few short years ago when OpenStack (as it was known then) and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) were fierce rivals for the hearts and minds of developers and customers. Where OpenStack was all about an open source cloud infrastructure on which applications could run, CNCF’s Kubernetes provided a vendor-neutral way of orchestrating container-based applications.
OpenInfra arguably lost the fight years ago, a fact made glaringly obvious when stalwarts such as the veteran Linux vendor SUSE decided to drop SUSE OpenStack Cloud in 2019 and go all-in with Kubernetes. At SUSECON25, The Register asked SUSE chief technology and product officer Thomas Di Giacomo if, more than five years on, the company had any regrets about the decision. Di Giacomo was blunt: “There’s no reason to revisit it.”
OpenInfra has enjoyed a revival over recent years, driven at least in part by welcoming in VMware refugees wanting to migrate workloads to OpenStack after the Broadcom acquisition. Still, its decision to become a member of the Linux Foundation could be seen by some as inevitable.
Jonathan Bryce, executive director of the OpenInfra Foundation, told The Register: “Joining forces with the Linux Foundation is a natural next step for OpenInfra projects like OpenStack.”
Bryce noted that becoming part of the Linux Foundation would allow OpenInfra to use shared resources “and better serve the modern infrastructure needs driven by AI, accelerated computing, and digital sovereignty.”
He also pointed to increasing pressure from regulatory, security, and geopolitical factors, saying: “The Linux Foundation’s mature frameworks for legal support, security expertise, and global advocacy would help us address these complexities together.”
The plan is for the OpenInfra Foundation to operate as a directed fund within the Linux Foundation, “similar to how the CNCF and PyTorch Foundation operate,” according to Bryce.
“Any funding raised from corporate members and sponsors is specifically allocated to the activities of the OpenInfra Foundation, and the Governing Board would continue to oversee the budget as our existing board does today.”
As for contributors and licenses, it should all remain business as usual. Projects will continue to operate under their longstanding governance processes and procedures. “Everyone involved,” Bryce said, “has been deliberate about recreating how OIF presently functions within the new structure developed at the Linux Foundation.”
“The contributors to OpenInfra projects would continue to govern the technical direction of the projects as they do today, and the Governing Board of the OpenInfra Foundation would have responsibility for the lifecycle of our projects, just as they do today as the OpenInfra board.”
In the announcement, Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, said: “Our rich history of partnership and closely linked communities will propel us in our shared mission to advocate for and advance the power and promise of open source.”
Mark Collier, COO of the OpenInfra Foundation, said: “By joining forces, OpenInfra and the Linux Foundation amplify a collaborative community already deeply interconnected, ensuring AI infrastructure is openly developed, community-governed, and accessible – empowering innovators worldwide to freely contribute, adapt, and build upon shared technologies.”
During the Civo Navigate event, which The Register attended, we asked Kelsey Hightower, one of the minds behind Kubernetes, what he made of OpenInfra potentially becoming a member of the Linux Foundation. After comparing OpenStack to a monolith of components, Hightower added: “All software projects deserve a shot at sustainability. This is their shot at sustainability. To find a home.” ®
