The Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA) is a collaborative initiative that aims to strengthen the enterprise Linux community by providing a unified, bug-for-bug compatible source base. This enables distributions to share a common foundation while allowing companies to add unique value. In this show, Greg Marsden, Senior Vice President, Oracle Linux and Member of Technical Steering Committee, OpenELA, discusses the project’s purpose, its evolution, Oracle’s contributions, and the roadmap for its future.

Marsden shares that OpenELA was launched a year and a half ago as a collaborative effort between Oracle, CIQ, Rocky Linux, and SUSE to establish an open standard for Enterprise Linux. The initiative aims to support customers reliant on the ecosystem while fostering collaboration among traditional competitors. Reflecting on the effort, Marsden says, “It’s been great to create a collaboration space for these different distributions… and hopefully to start building things that are going to improve the Open Enterprise Linux community in general.”

Having initially focused on operating system (OS) distributions, OpenELA has expanded to include end users and independent software vendors (ISVs) who depend on Enterprise Linux standards. Marsden explains that this broader community engagement reflects OpenELA’s mission to strengthen the ecosystem beyond just maintaining the codebase.

The project sets its benchmark by creating a bug-for-bug compatible source base that ensures all distributions start from the same foundation. Marsden notes that this approach allows individual contributors to enhance the ecosystem while enabling competitors to collaborate effectively. Contributions from the community, hosted on OpenELA’s GitHub repository, have already led to notable improvements.

Oracle’s contributions to OpenELA focus on three key areas: enterprise documentation, upgrade tools, and long-term kernel support. Marsden elaborates that Oracle has developed comprehensive documentation, enhanced the LEAPP in-place upgrade tool with features like Network File System (NFS) and Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) support, and maintained older Linux kernels critical for various customers. These contributions help ensure security and functionality for businesses with specific continuity needs.

Looking ahead, OpenELA’s focus is on developing an ecosystem that includes enterprise distributions, ISVs, and end users. Marsden also hints at potential future benefits, such as OpenELA-approved designations for ISVs and distributions, which could provide additional value to members. Marsden underscores OpenELA’s ongoing mission to strengthen Enterprise Linux while exploring opportunities to address enterprise needs.

Guest: Greg Marsden
Company: OpenELA
Show: Let’s Talk

This summary was written by Emily Nicholls.