Virtualisation software vendor VMware has become the latest company to join the Linux Foundation.

The company joins such names as Dell, Google, Adobe and Intel as supporters of the open-source advocacy group.

VMware said the decision was driven in part by its customers, who have been asking for more Linux implementations.

"A growing number of organisations run their Linux environments on VMware virtualisation and the Linux Foundation gives us a collaborative forum to address the needs of our customers effectively," explained VMware vice president of emerging projects Dan Chu.

The Linux Foundation cited VMware's list of open source projects and initiatives in welcoming the company. The group praised VMware's release of open source Virtual Machine Tools as well as its work on developing virtualisation interfaces for the Linux kernel.

"Linux is a natural platform for virtualisation and cloud computing," declared Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin.

"VMware is obviously a leader in that field and a leading independent software vendor who has embraced the Linux platform."