Linux Foundation

In October 2024, Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman removed 11 Russian nationals from the MAINTAINERS file, citing vague 'compliance requirements.' The Software Freedom Conservancy later argued that the relevant US Executive Order 14071 did not legally require this removal. Critics noted the lack of transparency, the failure to credit removed developers, and the precedent of geopolitics influencing open source contributor access. Linus Torvalds defended the decision.

In 2022, the Linux Foundation convened Open Source Software Security Summit II with industry and government leaders, outlining approximately $150M in funding over two years to address critical open source security challenges. The OpenSSF Alpha-Omega project received initial $5M from Microsoft and Google, and by 2024 had issued nearly $6M in grants to improve security in key open source projects including Python, Node.js, and Ruby ecosystems. The initiative represents a major coordinated effort to address systemic security vulnerabilities in open source infrastructure.

The Linux Foundation established multiple diversity and inclusion initiatives including the Software Developer Diversity and Inclusion (SDDI) project to research and promote best practices for increasing diversity in software engineering, the LiFT Scholarship Program providing free training and certification to underrepresented individuals, and the Inclusive Naming Initiative launched at KubeCon to standardize inclusive language across the industry. Over 100,000 women took LF's free MOOCs. In March 2024, OpenSSF and LF Training announced scholarships for 250 women in Jordan for cybersecurity training in collaboration with the US White House.

In 2019, the Linux Foundation, Open Invention Network (OIN), and Microsoft created the Open Source Zone with Unified Patents to challenge patents owned by Patent Assertion Entities (patent trolls) that targeted open source projects. Over five years, the initiative achieved a success rate of invalidating more than 54 PAE patents. The collaboration deepened in 2024 with additional companies contributing. This proactive defense protects open source projects from costly litigation that could undermine open source development.

In January 2016, the Linux Foundation changed its bylaws to eliminate voting rights for individual members and made at-large members of its board of directors optional. Developer Matthew Garrett criticized the changes, speculating they were designed to prevent Karen Sandler of the Software Freedom Conservancy from running for the board due to her support of the GPL license. Critics argued the changes concentrated governance power among corporate platinum members paying $500K/year while excluding community voices from decision-making.