Google’s contribution demonstrates its continued commitment to advancing open source software development. This summer, Google funded a $2 million “Summer of Code” program, which gave grants of $4,500 to more than 400 students performing work on open source projects, including several hosted by the Oregon State University Open Source Lab (OSUOSL).

“Google leverages open source software in its development efforts and strongly believes in supporting the open source community,” said Chris DiBona, open source program manager at Google. “Supporting the projects and institutions advancing open source software and hardware helps ensure the continued success and advancement of open source technologies. The teams at Oregon State and Portland State have done great open source work in the past and we’re excited to back their joint efforts.”

The new open source initiative will create a joint-university open source technology center and organization in early 2006 to: design and coordinate curricula across the Oregon University System; offer student internships and expand its technology capacity for the growing number of open source projects and communities it supports; further the commercialization of open source innovations by facilitating linkages to the region’s network of venture capital firms, technology companies and incubators such, as the Beaverton-based Open Technology Business Center; and partner on key educational events, such as the inaugural Government Open Source Conference (GOSCON) recently held in Portland.

Ed Ray, president of Oregon State University (OSU), and Daniel O. Bernstine, president of Portland State University (PSU), expressed their appreciation to Google for its commitment to support innovation and economic growth in Oregon, as well as for this sizable contribution.

“Google’s support to Oregon State University and Portland State University signals their commitment to Oregon’s knowledge economy and we’re pleased to welcome a new partner in our contributions to the state’s growing technology research and development industries,” said OSU President Ed Ray.

“Our universities are committed to strengthening teaching and research to enhance the open source community and we will continue to provide industry with well-prepared graduates,” said PSU President Daniel O. Bernstine.

Leading the university collaboration is Scott Kveton and Bart Massey. Kveton is the Associate Director of the Oregon State University Open Source Lab in Corvallis, which provides custom open source software development and offers facilities hosting some of the world’s largest open source projects, including the Linux® operating system, the Mozilla web browser and the Apache web server. Massey, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University, is a long-time open source developer and a leader in academic open source research and teaching. Kveton and Massey will coordinate with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at OSU, also a recipient of funding from Google.

The Growing Open Source Industry, including the Linux® operating system, is among the fastest growing technology sectors. Developed using a collaborative process often involving commercial vendors and communities of enthusiasts and students, open source generally gives users the rights to use, copy, modify and redistribute the software created. Increasingly, open source technologies are being used across the gamut of computing systems, from desktops and servers to telecommunications infrastructure and embedded devices. Analyst firm IDC estimates that the Linux® hardware and software markets will grow to $38 billion by 2008, with annual growth rates topping 25%.

"Back in 1997, IDC anticipated the impact of open source technologies and predicted the Linux operating environment would be a mainstream choice by the end of 2004," said Dan Kusnetzky, IDC's VP of System Software research. "Our survey data indicates this occurred even earlier and by the end of 2003, this technology was found worldwide, in organizations of all sizes and in every vertical market. This partnership between Google and important research universities is yet another indicator of the continued evolution and maturity of the Linux and open source markets.""