Linux Creator To Work Full Time On DevelopmentLinux Creator To Work Full Time On Development

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The creator of the Linux operating system is joining a global development group to focus on further improving the open-source software.

Linus Torvalds said Tuesday he is taking a leave from his research job at chipmaker Transmeta Corp. He will become the first fellow at the Beaverton, Ore.-based Open Source Development Lab, which is funded by high-tech companies to, among other things, enhance Linux for corporate data centers. At the lab, he will focus on the next major revision of the Linux core, or kernel.

"It feels a bit strange to finally officially work on what I've been doing for the last 12 years, but with the upcoming 2.6.x release it makes sense to be able to concentrate fully on Linux," he said.

Torvalds, then a university student in Finland, created Linux in 1991 to bring the power and reliability of the Unix operating system to relatively inexpensive computers based on Intel Corp. microprocessors. He freely distributed the software, requiring that improvements also be open and freely distributed.

In recent years, it has become a low-cost alternative to proprietary Unix operating systems such as Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP/UX, IBM Corp.'s AIX and Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Solaris. Some companies and government agencies also have embraced Linux over the dominant Windows operating system from Microsoft Corp.

The research firm Gartner predicts Linux may have 15 percent of the worldwide server market by 2007.

Torvalds, who joined Transmeta before it launched its Crusoe microprocessor in 2000, is taking an indefinite leave from the chip maker. Neither he nor the company have elaborated on his role at Transmeta since he joined six years ago.

The Open Source Development Lab is sponsored by Computer Associates, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC and others.