Collabora Joins the GNOME Foundation Advisory Board

UK software consultants to help in mission to create a free software computing platform.

May 5, 2010 — UK-based open source software consultancy Collabora is joining the GNOME Foundation advisory board today. A long time supporter of GNOME and member of the GNOME community, Collabora contributes directly to GNOME projects like Empathy, PiTiVi, Totem and Epiphany.

The GNOME Foundation works to further the goal of the GNOME project — to create a computing platform for use by the general public that is completely free software. On the advisory board, Collabora will work with the GNOME Board of Directors to help set vision and direction for the GNOME Foundation.

“We are proud of the work we’ve done in the past on GNOME projects and are happy to join the advisory board and contribute to the GNOME Foundation as well,” said Robert McQueen, director and co-founder at Collabora Ltd. “We’re passionate about open source and we look forward to the chance to help shape the future direction of the GNOME project alongside the other advisory board participants.”

“As a member of the GNOME community and the employer of key GNOME contributors, we are delighted to welcome Collabora to our advisory board,” said Stormy Peters, Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation. “They are already a key part of the GNOME community and their perspective on the advisory board will be of huge benefit to both the GNOME project and the other companies represented on the board.”

Collabora was a founding member of GNOME Mobile in 2007 and their technologies form key parts of the GNOME Mobile stack. In addition they work on many technologies that benefit the GNOME project like GStreamer, Telepathy, Farsight, D-Bus, X.Org and Webkit Gtk+. Their work is key in realising the GNOME vision of a free, accessible desktop and mobile platform for everyone.

“I’ve enjoyed working with Collabora since they joined the GNOME community, and they’ve made some significant contributions over the past few years, so it’s great to see them joining the GNOME Foundation too.” says Michael Meeks, Linux Desktop Architect at Novell, Inc. “Their frank insight and dynamism will be most welcome in the advisory board.”

GNOME technology forms a key part of mobile platforms such as Nokia’s Maemo, Intel’s Moblin and their merger to form the Linux Foundation’s MeeGo platform, launched at Mobile World Congress 2010. Companies like Collabora work with the GNOME community and the platform companies to deliver free and open source solutions. Members of the GNOME Advisory Board help the GNOME Foundation work with partner companies effectively and get the chance to collaborate with each other on their use of GNOME technologies.

About Collabora Ltd

Headquartered in Cambridge, UK with a network of developers worldwide, Collabora Ltd. is a software consultancy specializing in delivering the benefits of open source to the commercial world. Collabora combines years of open source software expertise with hard-won experience from working in the mobile and consumer electronics industries. They help clients effectively take open source technologies from the community to real-world consumers, re-using existing components to reduce time to market and focus on product differentiation.

For more information please visit www.collabora.co.uk.

About GNOME and the GNOME Foundation

GNOME is a free-software project whose goal is to develop a complete, accessible and easy to use desktop for Linux and Unix-based operating systems. GNOME also includes a complete development environment to create new applications. It is released twice a year on a regular schedule.

The GNOME desktop is used by millions of people around the world. GNOME is a standard part of all leading GNU/Linux and Unix distributions, and is popular with both large existing corporate deployments and millions of small business and home users worldwide.

Composed of hundreds of volunteer developers and industry-leading companies, the GNOME Foundation is an organization committed to supporting the advancement of GNOME. The Foundation is a member directed, non-profit organization that provides financial, organizational and legal support to the GNOME project and helps determine its vision and roadmap.

More information about GNOME and the GNOME Foundation can be found at www.gnome.org andfoundation.gnome.org.

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