The addition of Broadcom, in fact, is one of many important additions to the Linux Foundation in recent months. Perhaps most notably, China Mobile joined the group in November, followed by Huawei and Mentor Graphics in December, for example.

IP management company Protecode and Timesys both joined this week, and Cybercom and GoAhead will join Broadcom in announcing their own membership next week.

As I noted back in September, it's all a testament to the growing power of as a market force. Businesses are turning to it , and so are individuals. It's great to see companies like Broadcom recognize that this is a significant market that can no longer be ignored.

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