Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Linux Foundation Has Outsourced Most Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) Projects to Microsoft



Microsoft Linux Foundation



Summary: The Linux Foundation continues to hand over to Microsoft various Linux Foundation projects, even more than a year after the GitHub takeover (and more than it did prior to the acquisition by Microsoft)

This morning at 8AM we saw early media coverage [1-3], press releases [4-6] and Linux Foundation (LF) puff pieces [7-9] about the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF). The leading story is a couple of DRM giants joining ASWF and there's also a new project. At 8AM came out the press releases, at 8:30AM the LF published some pages and at around 9AM there was some ASWF press coverage, likely prepared in advance with/by ASWF under embargo. Having surveyed the 5 key projects of the ASWF, we're sad to say that they're mostly hosted by Microsoft at GitHub, which exercises control over this code and can now ban developers from about half a dozen countries. Well done there, Zemlin PAC...

"Sometimes it feels like this Foundation is an extension of Microsoft marketing and recruitment."One might be tempted to say that the handover precedes the Microsoft acquisition, but the latest project, OpenTimelineIO, is also on Microsoft's turf -- a turf that the Foundation actively promotes. Sometimes it feels like this Foundation is an extension of Microsoft marketing and recruitment.



Related/contextual items from the news:


  1. Netflix, Amazon Web Services Join the Motion Picture Academy's Software Foundation

    Netflix, Amazon Web Services, RodeoFX and MovieLabs have joined the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF), the group said Monday. The foundation was started a year ago by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in cooperation with The Linux Foundation to offer a forum for open source software developers to share resources and collaborate on image creation, visual effects, animation and sound technologies.

    AWS and Netflix have come on board as premier members, Rodeo FX as a general member, and MovieLabs as an associate member.

    Initiated by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the foundation also announced on Monday that OpenTimelineIO has been accepted by its technical advisory council as the fifth foundation-hosted project. Created by Pixar, OpenTimelineIO is an open source Application Programming Interface and interchange format aimed at enabling collaboration and communication of editorial data and timeline information between a studio’s story, editorial, production and postproduction departments. It’s already been used in production on Coco, Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4.



  2. Netflix, Amazon Web Services Join Hollywood Open Source Group


  3. Academy Software Foundation Marks 1st Anniversary with Major Announcements

    The Academy Software Foundation is celebrating its one year anniversary at SIGGRAPH this week, with plenty to be proud of. The Foundation has accomplished a 78% growth in membership in the past year, with just-announced newcomers Netflix, Amazon Web Services, Rodeo FX and Movie Labs. ASWF further revealed that Pixar’s OpenTimelineIO will be the fifth project hosted at the Foundation.

    SIGGRAPH attendees can check out projects from across the industry during Open Source Day on Tuesday — a full day of Birds of a Feather sessions focused on open source projects tailored to visual effects, animation and image creation. More exciting announcements are in store for these sessions.



  4. Academy Software Foundation Announces Amazon Web Services as a New Premier Member

    "We are pleased to welcome Amazon Web Services as a new Premier member. Many open source projects and developers rely on cloud services from AWS for content creation and production. We look forward to their contributions as our projects continue to evolve and grow," said David Morin, Executive Director of Academy Software Foundation. "We are also excited to have Rodeo FX and MovieLabs join our community. Rodeo FX has a deep expertise in visual effects and developing artist-driven tools that will be beneficial as our Foundation continues to grow. MovieLabs has a history of bringing together studios and tech companies to develop common technology goals, which aligns with our goal of driving collaboration and shared development of open source technologies across the motion picture and media industries."



  5. Netflix Joins the Academy Software Foundation

    The Academy Software Foundation (ASWF), a neutral forum for open source software development in the motion picture and media industries, today announced that Netflix has joined the Foundation as a member.



  6. Netflix, Amazon Web Services Join Hollywood Open Source Group

    Netflix and Amazon Web Services are among the newest members of the Academy Software Foundation, a group dedicated to promoting the use of open source software in Hollywood that is being spearheaded by the Linux Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

  7. Amazon Web Services, RodeoFX, and MovieLabs Join Academy Software Foundation

    The Academy Software Foundation (ASWF), a neutral forum for open source software development in the motion picture and media industries, today announced that Amazon Web Services has joined the Foundation as a Premier member, Rodeo FX as a General member, and MovieLabs as an Associate member.

    “We are pleased to welcome Amazon Web Services as a new Premier member. Many open source projects and developers rely on cloud services from AWS for content creation and production. We look forward to their contributions as our projects continue to evolve and grow,” said David Morin, Executive Director of Academy Software Foundation. “We are also excited to have Rodeo FX and MovieLabs join our community. Rodeo FX has a deep expertise in visual effects and developing artist-driven tools that will be beneficial as our Foundation continues to grow. MovieLabs has a history of bringing together studios and tech companies to develop common technology goals, which aligns with our goal of driving collaboration and shared development of open source technologies across the motion picture and media industries.”



  8. Netflix Joins the Academy Software Foundation

    The Academy Software Foundation (ASWF), a neutral forum for open source software development in the motion picture and media industries, today announced that Netflix has joined the Foundation as a member.

    The Academy Software Foundation also announced today that OpenTimelineIO has been accepted as a Foundation-hosted project and is one of the first projects Netflix will contribute to as a member of the Foundation. Initially created by Pixar Animation Studios, OpenTimelineIO (OTIO) is an Open Source API and interchange format that facilitates collaboration and communication of editorial data and timeline information between a studio’s Story, Editorial, and Production departments all the way through Post-Production. You can read more about the announcement here.



  9. OpenTimelineIO Becomes Fifth Project Hosted at Academy Software Foundation

    Initially created by Pixar Animation Studios, OpenTimelineIO (OTIO) is an Open Source API and interchange format that facilitates collaboration and communication of editorial data and timeline information between a studio’s Story, Editorial, and Production departments all the way through Post-Production. Since 2016, there have been eleven OTIO releases with contributions from many studios and vendors including Pixar, Lucasfilm and Netflix. It has been used in production for films including Coco, Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4.

    “Picture-less data produced by editorial departments is very useful across the pipeline. We developed OpenTimelineIO to provide an open source alternative to proprietary formats and enable our community to easily and efficiently interchange editorial timelines,” said Guido Quaroni, Vice President of Research and Development at Pixar. “As an Academy Software Foundation project, we hope OpenTimelineIO can help facilitate content creation within the motion picture and other similar industries.”

    OTIO makes it easier to build tools that use editorial timeline information, filling a gap in film production pipelines that was previously underserved by similar, proprietary technologies. It supports clips, timing, tracks, transitions, markers, and metadata in an API that is easy for studios to integrate with their tools and for vendors to integrate with their software. Use cases include tracking shot length changes, providing context shots in dailies, communicating shots added or removed, conforming new renders into a cut, and dealing with picture-in-picture shots.



Recent Techrights' Posts

After Microsoft's Bankruptcy in Russia Android (Linux) Will Dominate Asia Completely
Windows probably peaked in "XP" or "2000"
India: Windows Falls to 50% in Desktops/Laptops and 8% Overall
laptops/desktops fell to 16% of the whole
statCounter: GNU/Linux Up to 4.7% "Market Share" This Month
30,000 Microsoft jobs may be eliminated by year's end
Microsoft is in Trouble and Microsofters Know It
"I've been happy on Win 3.11 for years."
Links 02/06/2025: Political Leftovers, DRM, and Patents
Links for the day
 
Last Article From Australia's Sam Varghese Was a Year Ago and It Covered the Release of Julian Assange, Who Will Apparently Come Back as 'Politician'
It'll soon be exactly 12 months
Hungary Seems Hungry for Linux
Windows down by a lot
Like in Europe, Bad News for Microsoft in US and Canada
If it loses those "regions", then what's left?
About 8 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in 2025 (in Less Than 5 Months), Now Vista 11 "Market Share" Decreases
Really bad news for shareholders of Microsoft
statCounter Sees Bing "Share" Falling Over 0.5% in One Month, Now Lower Than Before the ChatGPT/Bing Chat Hype
Bing has been part of the mass layoffs for quite some time
Microsoft's Demise is a Global Phenomenon
mass layoffs justified using mindless buzzwords
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux in EU and the UK, All-Time Lows for Microsoft
Combining ChromeOS and GNU/Linux, it adds up to and almost reaches 6%
[Video] New Introduction to Richard Stallman's Contributions Including GNU Emacs, GNU/Linux, and Software Freedom
from the channel previously bullied for supporting RMS
Links 02/06/2025: South Korea to Vote, Russia Blitzed From Within
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Microsoft Spins Layoffs as "Slop", Frontier Settles Lawsuit
Links for the day
When You Publicly Boast About Wanting to Violently Attack People (Even Colleagues) Finding a Job Will Prove Difficult
there's a lesson to be learned here
The Web We Lost, the Information Lost Due to Microsoft's Attacks on Companies Like Yahoo! (Before the LLM Slop Frenzy)
When it comes to news sites, what can we say?
Covering Corruption in Poland, Including a War on Science (Due to Bad Politicians)
What we're about to show is that skilled and experienced scientists in Poland are besieged by bureaucrats
Gemini Links 02/06/2025: "Star Wars Day" and "Security Day"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 01, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 01, 2025
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part II: Lying to the IRS is a Big Issue
The OSI of today pretends to be something that it is not
Bloodlust and Love of Blades (Fascination With Murder) Nothing New Among Microsofters
Violence is not a joke and no group is magically entitled to make such "jokes"
Links 01/06/2025: Bird Flu, Food Price Inflation, and Growing US-China Hostilities
Links for the day
Links 01/06/2025: "Vibe Coding" Turns Out to be a Fraud and Amazon Merits Boycott, Argue Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/06/2025: "Stardust" and Ideal PC Setup
Links for the day
Links 01/06/2025: Windows TCO, Openwashing, "It's FOSS" Still Promoting Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/06/2025: Simplification and Networks Everywhere
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 31, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 31, 2025
Google Bribes EFF. EFF Promotes LLM Slop as 'Fair Use'. To GAFAM It's a Low-Cost Lobby Hedge.
So the bribes pay off ("slush fund") and the word spreads
Slopwatch: Fake Text and Images, Financial Bubbles, and Scams in "Intelligent" Clothing
Sometimes what they mean by "AI" is just cheap labour somewhere else, as we discussed in IRC a few hours ago
Why Microsoft is Collapsing (Similar to What's Happening at IBM), As Insiders See It
IBM seems like one heck of a mess
Reliable Computing Means Free (Libre) Computing
Sites that want to promote security ought to deal with the biggest issues
Links 31/05/2025: US Court Orders Sides With RFE/RL, War Updates From Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/05/2025: ARM Server and power_supply Subsystem
Links for the day
Links 31/05/2025: Slop Stigmatised as Disinformation, Catalyst/Driver of "Death of Communication"
Links for the day
Common Sense 101: Do Not Write Blog Posts Saying You Want to Murder Colleagues (or Yourself)
Only crazy people would think stabbings are a joke
Microsoft Bankruptcy
"Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy, database shows"
Techrights Does Not Compete With LLM Slop, It Exposes the Bastards, Plagiarists and Scammers Who Do That
People like Scam Altman, still facing a lawsuit from his own sister for sexual abuse against her
Links 31/05/2025: Microsoft-Connected Builder.ai is a Fraud and US is Purging Students Based on Race/Nationality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/05/2025: Limmat, Doomscrollers, and Arguments Parsing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 30, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 30, 2025