One of the co-founders of the open source movement has become the member of the Freespire Leadership Board. Freespire  is a community-driven, Linux-based operating system that gives users the option of combining free open source software with certain proprietary codecs, drivers and applications. Raymond, well-known as both a theorist and an advocate for the open source movement, joins twelve other Freespire Leadership Board members, composed of thinkers, business people, evangelists, and key members of the Linux community.

In recent weeks, Raymond has surprised many by speaking publicly about the "necessary compromise" that open source advocates must be willing to make, by providing for an easy way for open source software to work with key proprietary technologies for which there are not yet adequate open source alternatives. Freespire is the most prominent desktop Linux distribution to embrace this concept.

Mr. Raymond believes desktop Linux is entering into a critical period, noting that historically, users have shifted operating systems during periods of fundamental changes in hardware platforms. He believes the movement to a 64-bit world will provide desktop Linux a unique window of opportunity, which if missed, may not come along again for many years.

"Desktop Linux must advance now," said Raymond. "If desktop Linux is to advance to a broader audience, it must work with iPods and other MP3 players, play DVD movies, view Windows Media and Quick Time content on the web, and so on. I wish users didn't require these proprietary formats, but it's naive and unrealistic to expect the masses to forgo these requirements in the near future. Linux must make some compromises to attract mainstream users."

Raymond believes the only way to influence ISVs and others to support open standards and open software, is to attract enough end users to make Linux too large to ignore. "There simply aren't enough Linux users today to put much pressure on hardware and software manufacturers," added Raymond. "To attract more users, Linux must support the popular drivers and file types in use today. Freespire is the one distribution I see willing to make this unfortunate but necessary compromise, so I'm happy to contribute to their effort."

"We are extremely pleased to have someone with Eric's background, experience and reputation involved in the Freespire project," said Kevin Carmony, President and CEO for Linspire, Inc., the leading sponsor for Freespire. "Eric has a keen interest in seeing desktop Linux become more workable with the necessary codecs and drivers, and he sees Freespire as a good launching off place for an ideal he and the Freespire community both share; getting desktop Linux to just work, even if that means providing the option of proprietary codecs in those cases where there are not yet viable open source alternatives."