DEVOPSdigest

Development work on the Linux kernel — the core software that underpins the open source Linux operating system — has a new infrastructure partner in Akamai. The company's cloud computing service and content delivery network (CDN) will support kernel.org, the main distribution system for Linux kernel source code and the primary coordination vehicle for its global developer network.

Akamai signed a multi-year agreement with the Linux Kernel Organization to provide infrastructure services to the project and its global cohort of developers. The work of these engineers — many of whom work as volunteers — is critical to maintaining the security and performance of the world's most widely deployed open source operating system. Linux and its derivatives are used by most if not all governments, research laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and corporations globally. It powers smartphones, industrial devices, consumer products, and the data centers that enable cloud computing. It also runs most of the internet, all of the world's top 500 supercomputers, and the world's stock exchanges.

The Linux kernel is massive — approximately 28 million lines of code. Since 2005, more than 13,500 developers from more than 1,300 different companies have contributed to the Linux kernel. Additionally, there are many kernel versions, and developers update the code constantly, distributing that code to developers who are working on various distributions of Linux. Akamai now delivers the infrastructure that these developers and their users rely on, at no cost, supporting the Git environments developers use to access kernel sources quickly, regardless of where they're based.

"Like the rest of the world, Akamai depends on Linux. By supporting kernel.org, we're giving back to the community, just as we've done via our commitments to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)," said Alex Chircop, Chief Architect, Akamai Cloud, and member of the CNCF's Technical Oversight Committee. "The foundation of our cloud platform is built on a long history of Linux and open source technologies. It's the Lin in Linode. By providing stable, secure, and unwavering support for kernel.org, we're doing our part to contribute to the preservation of the world's most widely deployed open source software, Linux."

"Akamai has deep roots in the open source community," said Chris Aniszczyk, Chief Technology Officer of CNCF. "As an important member of CNCF, they have actively contributed to key projects, including OpenTelemetry, Argo, and Prometheus, and donated US$1 million in infrastructure credits for compute infrastructure projects. The support they are providing the Linux kernel further showcases the company's long-standing stewardship and commitment to the people and software who make open source projects what they are today."

Akamai is a Gold Member of the CNCF and a Platinum Sponsor of KubeCon — and, earlier this year, Akamai pledged US$1 million to CNCF projects. Akamai developers have contributed to the Linux kernel to make it more secure, are active contributors to several CNCF-hosted projects, and have participated in projects that have won the Levchin Prize for Real-World Cryptography. In 2022, Akamai acquired Linux cloud pioneer Linode, followed by Ondat in 2023, a cloud-based storage technology provider with a Kubernetes-native platform for running stateful applications anywhere at scale. The cloud company is certified as part of CNCF's Certified Kubernetes Conformance Program. Its Linode Kubernetes Engine is a fully managed K8s container orchestration engine for deploying and managing containerized applications and workloads.

Akamai also announced that it is providing infrastructure and delivery support for Alpine Linux, one of the most popular Linux distributions.