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With an aim to contribute to the Linux community and to collaborate with various activities of the community, Untangle, developers of Open Source Network Gateway (News - Alert), has joined The Linux Foundation.

 

The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to promote, protect and standardize Linux by providing unified resources and services needed for open source to successfully compete with closed platforms. The Linux Foundation, which sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds, is supported by a large community comprising open source companies and developers from around the world.

 

By joining Linux, Untangle plans to take advantage of the exclusive Linux Foundation events and to collaborate with the foundation on outreach to Linux User Groups (LUGs) throughout the globe, the company said.

 

"The increasing adoption of Linux and open source software depends on our collective efforts. We are excited to join the growing community of Linux Foundation participants," said Bob Walters, Untangle CEO, in a statement. "Untangle has benefited greatly from the mass collaboration that the Linux Foundation facilitates and we are proud to publicly support them and their mission."

 

Untangle has been involved in a number of community projects that support Linux adoption. Earlier this year, the company held its inaugural Installfest for Schools, which helped refurbish 350 computers with Ubuntu (News - Alert) Linux for schools. In the second Installfest at LinuxWorld in San Francisco in August, an additional 750 computers were refurbished for schools.

 

"Untangle has a long history of giving back to the community, and its membership in the Linux Foundation is a natural extension of those actions," said Amanda McPherson, vice president of marketing and developer programs at The Linux Foundation, in a statement. "We have been very supportive of their impressive community and product efforts and are pleased to work more closely with them."

 

The primary goal of the Installfest for Schools was to help underprivileged schools provide their students with the same classroom technology as those in more affluent districts. However, refurbishment also has environmental benefits because each computer contains toxic electronic waste that reuse diverts from landfills, a statement from the company said.

 

Untangle, which initially targeted network security and control for small- and medium-size businesses, is known for the Untangle Gateway Platform, which according to the company, is the world’s first commercial-grade open source solution for blocking spam, spyware, viruses, adware and unwanted content on the network.