The Linux Foundation notified me a few days ago about some new member benefits and I'm excited to tell you about them. For starters, you receive discounts on their training courses and entrance to their conferences--which translates to several hundred bucks to those of you watching your budgets. Want more? How about a linux.com email address? Yep. You got it.

Those benefits are for individual members, Partners receive even bigger benefits that put the savings into the thousands of buckazoids. All benefits for both the individual and partner levels are given below as they were sent to me.

Impressive, huh?

There's more. I know...what more could there be? Well, fortunately for me, the Linux Foundation has seen fit to grandfather its current members into to those benefits. I joined at the right time to receive the benefits at the old membership price.

Yeah, there's the downside--the new individual membership went from $49 per year to $99 per year. A big increase but the benefits more than make up for the price increase.

And the biggest benefit of all is that Linus Torvald's income is solely derived from The Linux Foundation. Having him at the helm of Linux kernel development without the distraction of a "day job" is something I'm proud to be part of at any price. And, we all reap the benefits of his labors--wouldn't you agree?

I know this sounds like a commercial for The Linux Foundation but I'm excited about what they do and for whom they do it--us. I'm not affiliated in any way with The Linux Foundation except as a member so, in other words, it is my excitement alone that's prompting this post about the new benefits.

Are you a Linux Foundation member? If not, go to their site and join. Protect Linux and feel good about it.