Linux Foundation Gets Ready for the Rise of Edge Computing

You may be knee-deep in discussions about cloud computing in your organization, but the Linux Foundation is already thinking long and hard about the potential impact of the cloud’s expected successor, edge computing.

Edge computing—which anticipates a future in which technology becomes so advanced that high-demand computing tasks are no longer offloaded to the cloud—has been a buzzword for a few years now. But making it possible on a wide scale is going to take some infrastructure work.

That’s where the Linux Foundation comes into play. The group is managing a subsidiary, LF Edge  (opens in a new tab), whose mission is to create an open-source infrastructure for edge computing, including by supporting a large number of open-source projects. LF Edge was founded in January, and this week the foundation announced the addition of four new organizational members and two open-source projects—Baetyl  (opens in a new tab), which connects edge devices to the cloud and was created by the Chinese technology giant Baidu, and Fledge  (opens in a new tab), which focuses on industrial manufacturing needs.

Speaking to ZDNet recently  (opens in a new tab), Arpit Joshipura, the Linux Foundation’s general manager of networking, noted that LF Edge is seeking to ensure that the players in edge computing work in a coordinated way over a variety of use cases in telecom, internet of things, enterprise, and cloud computing, and to encourage the embrace of an open vision for the field. “Our goal here is to unify all of these,” he said.

Because edge computing is just emerging, the field has at times struggled to coalesce around a unified approach. On the other hand, being new has its advantages: There are no edge-computing killer apps just yet, and there probably won’t be for a while, meaning that the Linux Foundation and similar groups can help shepherd it through its embryonic period.

Another goal is to share innovations with different use cases for the technology, Joshipura said in a news release  (opens in a new tab).

“It’s incredible to witness such strong industry support for collaborative innovation to create an open-source framework at the edge,” he said. “In just nine months, LF Edge has seen tremendous growth across the board.”

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