Linux Booming in Telecom

Some news to share about Linux in telecom. Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux in the enterprise, today announced it has published its Carrier Grade Linux requirements definition version 3.1 (CGL v3.1) and will host two SUPERCOMM panels, "Accelerating Linux Deployment in Communications" and "The Business Case for Linux," to meet the growing interest in CGL applications for telecommunications infrastructure.

Hosted by Ibrahim Haddad - author, former Linux researcher at Ericsson, and strategic program manager at OSDL- the "Accelerating Linux Deployment in the Enterprise" panel will look at the most recent requirements from the Carrier Grade Linux working group, including high availability and clustering definitions. Haddad will also deliver the "State of the Penguin" keynote address at the Linux Solutions Telecom Conference being held at SUPERCOMM.

A second panel hosted by OSDL at the Linux Solutions Telecom Conference is "The Business Case for Linux," led by Bill Weinberg, OSDL's Open Source Architecture Specialist. Weinberg was a founding team member at MontaVista Software and is a regular speaker and contributor on open source topics.

"The tide has already turned in the telecommunications market. Recent announcements from a number of telecommunications companies demonstrate the increasing adoption of Linux to reduce costs and enable a higher level of flexibility in telecommunications devices," said Stuart Cohen, CEO of Open Source Development Labs. "With increasing awareness of CGL benefits, telecommunications equipment manufacturers are moving quickly to implement Linux in mission critical applications."

"Common specifications such as CGL are an integral part of the emerging class of computers called communications servers that are able to handle a broad range of communications computing applications," said Markus Leberecht, director of strategy and architecture, Switched Platform Operations, Embedded Communications Computing, Motorola. "The presence of OSDL and the various CGL discussions at SUPERCOMM confirms the progress that Linux is making in the telecom space. The panel discussion will enable this penetration to continue by educating those companies that are implementing CGL."

The latest CGL Requirements Definition, CGL v3.1, is now available for evaluation by developers and Linux distributors and will be discussed at SUPERCOMM. The new Requirements Definition addresses new capabilities, particularly in the areas of clustering, manageability and security. Acknowledging the increasing threat to telecommunications companies by unauthorized access to their management and control interfaces, OSDL's CGL Working Group has found that a new level of security can be achieved through sophisticated access control, strong authentication and tamper-proof auditing of administrative actions and logs.  CGL v3.1 identifies security capabilities including file integrity checking, PKI and SSL support, resource management and operating system support for Trusted Platform Module (TPM) hardware.

Panelists for the "Accelerating Linux Deployment in Communications" include: Anthony Ambrose, general manager for Platform Programs and Communications Infrastructure Group, Intel; Peter Badovinatz, senior technical staff manager, Advanced Linux Response Team, IBM Linux Technology Center; Alex deVries, Linux architect, Wind River Systems; Markus Leberecht, director of strategy and architecture, Motorola; Manas Saksena, chief technology officer, TimeSys; and Glenn Seiler, director of product marketing, MontaVista Software. The panel will be held Monday, June 6, 2005 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in M14C at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Panelists for "The Business Case for Linux" discussion include Anjan Ghosal, chief executive officer and founder, IntelliNet Technologies; Mark Matthews of MySQL; and Peder Ulander, vice president of marketing, MontaVista Software. The panel will be held Wednesday, June 8, 2005 from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the Linux Solutions Telecom Conference and Pavilion Theater.

About Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) OSDL - home to Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux - is dedicated to accelerating the growth and adoption of Linux. Founded in 2000 by CA, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel and NEC, OSDL is a non-profit organization at the center of Linux supported by a global consortium of more than 60 of the world's largest Linux customers and IT industry leaders. Currently, 24 companies are producing products based on CGL - eight Linux distributions and 16 of the industry's leading TEMs and NEPs. OSDL sponsors industry-wide initiatives around Linux in telecommunications, in the enterprise data center and on corporate desktops. The Lab also provides Linux expertise and computing and test facilities in the United States and Japan available to developers around the world. Visit OSDL on the Web at http://www.osdl.org/.

OSDL is a trademark of Open Source Development Labs, Inc. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. Third party marks and brands are the property of their respective holders.
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