Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation, is optimistic about diversified heterogeneous computing and believes that openness can lead to win-win results

[51CTO.com original article] On September 20, 2019, at the third day of HUAWEI CONNECT 2019 Developer Day, Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation, delivered a speech titled "Open Source Promotes the Development of Diversified Heterogeneous Computing". He pointed out: "Diversified heterogeneous computing is becoming a technological trend, and AI, edge computing, self-driving cars, and AR/VR innovation are in the ascendant. Open source and collaborative development are of great significance to innovation!"

Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation, delivered a keynote speech

Diversified heterogeneous computing is becoming a technological trend

At present, whether it is SDN, NFV, or cloud computing, they all need to rely on software to achieve their goals, and this is inseparable from the support of open source technology. Open source helps users solve cost issues, lowers technical barriers, and makes development more efficient. After more than a decade of development, the value of open source has been recognized by many companies and developers. In today's software-driven world, open source is becoming ubiquitous. It can be said that open source is one of the most successful enablers of global innovation so far, and Linux is a good example of the power of open source and the power of joint development.

"Linux is a very important software platform. Linux is winning in all new markets. For example, almost all supercomputers use Linux, the smartphone market accounts for 82%, 68% of the world's server operating systems are Linux, 90% of large computer customers choose Linux, 90% of public cloud workloads run on Linux, and the embedded system market accounts for 62%." Jim said.

He said that relying on heterogeneous and diversified computing environments, Linux is applicable to multiple architectures such as x86, ARM, MIPS, Alpha, Power, RISC-V, etc., and can be applied to multiple scenarios such as mobile, cloud, HPC, edge computing, vertical industries, etc. Looking at global development, Linux is a very large collaborative project in history, with large-scale distribution on all platforms.

Jim believes that diversified heterogeneous computing is becoming a technological trend, and AI, edge computing, self-driving cars, and AR/VR innovations are in the ascendant. This view coincides with Huawei's. In Huawei's view, in the intelligent era of the Internet of Everything, the continuous expansion and enrichment of application scenarios will inevitably lead to differentiation and diversification of computing. Because no single computing architecture can meet the processing of all scenarios and data types, heterogeneous computing with the coexistence of various CPUs, DSPs, GPUs, AI chips, FPGAs, etc., is the future development path.

According to Huawei's GIV 2025 global industry insight forecast, the amount of new data will reach 180ZB by 2025, which is 18 times the amount of new data in 2018, and the computing power will increase tenfold every year, bringing about a large demand for heterogeneous computing.

In this context, Huawei hopes to build a Kunpeng computing industry ecosystem with its partners to meet customers' strong demand for diversified computing power. In order to support the construction and development of the Kunpeng industry ecosystem, Huawei plans to invest 3 billion yuan in the cultivation of the Kunpeng industry ecosystem in the next five years. On the first day of this conference, Huawei officially announced its entry into the computing industry. Based on the "Kunpeng + Ascend" dual engines, it announced the open source server operating system, GaussDB OLTP stand-alone database, and the opening of the Kunpeng motherboard.

Only open cooperation can achieve win-win results

In his speech, Jim pointed out that open source code generally accounts for 80-90% of the total code base of a modern system. Looking to the future, open source and collaborative development are of great significance to innovation, and the application of open source will surely open people's eyes!

He also introduced that in addition to open source software, the Linux Foundation also uses the power of the open source community to change the way people collaborate. Therefore, the Linux Foundation has achieved open collaboration in four major directions, namely: across various industries and technical branches, developing specifications and standards, developing open source hardware, and realizing data sharing standardization. For example: the GraphQL Foundation cooperates with JDF (Joint Development Foundation) (JDF has joined the Linux Foundation) to promote the adoption of open source and standards; open the ability to develop and design open source hardware to RISC-V and CHIPS ALLIANCE...

Jim concluded: “I hope everyone remembers that open source software is free for everyone to use, helping users innovate and succeed. Only by being open can we win together!”

In the past few years, the Linux Foundation has worked with many companies, including Huawei, to develop new projects, provide training and certification, and help developers develop more secure and stable software. At the same time, it ensures that the development speed of open source software continues to accelerate. As more and more people choose open source software, software developers can still meet market demand.

It is reported that Huawei became a platinum member of the Linux Foundation in August 2015. In Huawei's view, Linux and open source software are the foundation for building information and communication technology (ICT), so joining the open source community is also a development strategy for Huawei.

At present, Huawei has become a core contributor to open source projects such as Kernel, OpenStack, CNCF, OCI, Docker, Spark, Hadoop, and OPNFV. There are 1.3 million developers active in the Huawei developer community using the Huawei platform, and Huawei has 14 million ISV development partners. This year, Huawei Cloud also created the developer event brand "DevRun", which focuses on Huawei Cloud's new products, technological innovations, and solutions for developers, covering AI, 5G, IoT, cloud native, quantum computing, etc. The event has covered more than 5,000 developers.

In addition, in his keynote speech on the first day of the conference, Huawei's rotating chairman Hu Houkun announced that a new round of Fertile Soil Plan will invest $1.5 billion to help developers upgrade and expand the Huawei developer community to 5 million people. This also shows how much Huawei values ​​the construction of the developer ecosystem and the construction of the open source community.

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