OSDL Lays Off Staffers, CEO Cohen Resigns

Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a nonprofit development group for the open-source Linux operating system (OS), has laid off nine employees in the United States and Asia—cutting its number of staffers from 28 to 19—and Chief Executive Stuart Cohen also tendered his resignation, the IDG News Service reports via Computerworld.com.

The news comes as OSDL attempts to shift its broad focus on building awareness of and popularizing Linux to a more specific range of goals, the IDG News Service reports.

Mike Temple, OSDL chief financial officer, will take the leadership reins at the consortium as chief operating officer, and Cohen will take a post with venture capital company OVP Venture Partners, according to the IDG News Service.

Since Linux is now a well-known technology, OSDL is modifying its Linux focus to include a smaller number of activities that demand fewer resources, the IDG News Service reports.

The consortium will still fund the work of Linus Torvalds, who created Linux, as well as others conducting Linux-related efforts, and it will push increased collaboration between its own members, open-source community members and end users, the IDG News Service reports.

Founded in 2000, OSDL boasts more than 70 members across the world, including Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Nokia and Red Hat, according to the IDG News Service.

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