Ottawa, Canada, 25 July 2008 – Today at the Ottawa Linux Symposium, VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, announced that it has contracted Harald Welte, recipient of the prestigious Free Software Foundation’s “2007 Award for the Advancement of Free Software,” as the company’s Open Source Liaison.
In this role, Harald will be responsible for helping refine VIA’s Open Source strategy to optimize its support for Linux across all the components of its x86 processor platforms, including its highly-successful VIA C7™ processor line and the new VIA Nano™ processor, as well as accompanying chipsets, graphics, and networking chips.
In addition, Harald will assist VIA to develop drivers that are in line with the standards and best practices of Linux kernel development, enhance the quality and public availability of VIA documentation, and improve interaction with the Open Source development community.
“We are delighted that Harald is joining us in this extremely important strategic position,” commented Richard Brown, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “With his rich experience in Open Source software development and outstanding reputation in the global community, Harald will play an invaluable role in enabling us to implement our Strategic Open Source Driver Development Initiative.”
“This is an exciting time to be working with VIA as the company steps up its Open Source efforts,” commented Harald Welte. “I look forward to working with the company’s management and R&D teams to make sure that they not only better understand the needs of developers but that they also build a productive and high quality relationship with the community.”
The beta version of the VIA Linux Portal is located at http://linux.via.com.tw; Open Source developers are also free to contact Harald by email at HaraldWelte@viatech.com.
