Security Bullet In
Communiques from the security front, sir
Thursday 1 October 2009, 5:19 PM
Open source groups to merge
Two open source consortia have announced they are to join forces.
Paris-based OW2 Consortium, whose members include Alcatel Lucent, France Telecom, Red Hat and Thales, will merge with California-based Open Solutions Alliance, which represents organisations including Unisys and Ingres.
According to a press statement on Thursday, the two organisations will provide a "global platform for supporting research, development, distribution, and adoption of open source software."
"When you look at each organization's strengths in technology and market presence, as well as the global positioning of our members, OSA and OW2 look like two puzzle pieces waiting to be put together," said Cedric Thomas, OW2 chief executive, in the statement. "We can do much more together than apart, and a combined entity will provide a single voice for open source worldwide and a unique global pool of open source resources."
The merged organisation will be called OW2, and OSA will become OW2's North American chapter, an Ingres spokeperson told ZDNet UK on Thursday. No timescale for the merger was available at the time of writing.
Update: Nick Halsey of OSA told ZDNet UK that the amalgamation process should take 3 to 4 months.
"In terms of timescales, today’s announcement kicks off a process, where a 6-person merger committee will be formed (three from each organisation) to work through final implementation details," Halsey wrote in an email. "During this transition time, three OSA board members will be given seats on the OW2 board. At the end of the process (3-4 months) there will be an election to create a new slate of board members from both organisations."
Paris-based OW2 Consortium, whose members include Alcatel Lucent, France Telecom, Red Hat and Thales, will merge with California-based Open Solutions Alliance, which represents organisations including Unisys and Ingres.
According to a press statement on Thursday, the two organisations will provide a "global platform for supporting research, development, distribution, and adoption of open source software."
"When you look at each organization's strengths in technology and market presence, as well as the global positioning of our members, OSA and OW2 look like two puzzle pieces waiting to be put together," said Cedric Thomas, OW2 chief executive, in the statement. "We can do much more together than apart, and a combined entity will provide a single voice for open source worldwide and a unique global pool of open source resources."
The merged organisation will be called OW2, and OSA will become OW2's North American chapter, an Ingres spokeperson told ZDNet UK on Thursday. No timescale for the merger was available at the time of writing.
Update: Nick Halsey of OSA told ZDNet UK that the amalgamation process should take 3 to 4 months.
"In terms of timescales, today’s announcement kicks off a process, where a 6-person merger committee will be formed (three from each organisation) to work through final implementation details," Halsey wrote in an email. "During this transition time, three OSA board members will be given seats on the OW2 board. At the end of the process (3-4 months) there will be an election to create a new slate of board members from both organisations."
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