Three computer industry leaders in Korea have joined the Free Standards Group (FSG), with plans to contribute to the Linux Standards Base (LSB). New silver-level FSG inductees include government-sponsored nonprofits KIPA (Korean IT Industry Promotion) and ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute), along with software provider Haansoft.

Additionally, the FSG has opened an outreach and development office in Korea, described as “one of the fastest-growing Linux markets in the world.”

The LSB is an important industry standard widely supported among commercial Linux distributions. It specifies standard filesystem components and locations, so that ISVs (independent software vendors) can more easily support the many available varieties of Linux. It thus aims to keep Linux from “fragmenting” — the fate widely considered to have undone Unix.

KIPA is a non-profit organization established in 1998 by the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication. It aims to “further the exchange and cooperation between Korean and foreign IT enterprises,” it says. KIPA will serve as an intermediary between the FSG and the Korean IT industry, in order to promote the use of FSG's open standards in Korea, it says.

ETRI is a non-profit Korean government-funded research organization established in 1976. It has developed Unix technologies for more than 20 years, and began licensing Linux-based middleware to the Korean telecommunications market in 2002. ETRI joined the OSDL last year, as Korea's first OSDL representative.

Haansoft, described as “Korea's leading developer of software,” is best-known for the “Asianux” distribution that it developes in collaboration with Red Flag Linux, in China, and Miracle Linux, in Japan. Asianux aims to provide a standard Linux platform for Asia, and has been certified against the OSDL's Carrier Grade Linux 2.x specification, a sub-requirement of which is LSB certification. Haansoft joined the OSDL about a year ago.

Jim Zemlin, executive director of the FSG, stated, “Because of the commitment of Korean vendors and government agencies to Linux, we feel it's important to open an office locally. We look forward to working closely with new members KIPA, Haansoft, and ETRI, and representing their interests in our Linux open standards projects.”

The FSG also recently expanded its membership in Japan, with the addition of Fujitsu.

 
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