Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) closes down Linux research centre in Germany

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(NYSE:AMD), which is struggling with dwindling sales, has shut down its operating system research centre (OSRC) in Dresden, Germany, The Register reported on Wednesday.

The report said that the company had handed out pink slips to most of its 25 Linux kernel developers.

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According to the OSRC website, which was still online as of Wednesday, the centre was a global research organization that acted as a bridge between the OS development community and the worldwide AMD processor design community, the report said.

A mail from AMD's Mike Silverman said - "AMD GmbH is closing its operations in Dresden, including its Operating System Research Centre (OSRC) as part of a full site closure at this location. We will continue to support the Linux kernel, and the software development work happening at the OSRC is being consolidated and will be performed at other AMD locations."

With this closure, AMD has let go of all its developers involved in writing code for the Linux kernel and introducing some uncertainty to AMD as a platform for the open-source community.

AMD processors have traditionally been priced lower compared to that of Intel, because of its engagement with the open-source community, especially Linux.

According to reports, only one small division of open source developers has been spared, with the team that develops open source drivers for AMD's graphics processors and APUs (accelerated processing units) unaffected by the closure, The Register said.

AMD's third quarter results were disappointing and the company has said that it would reduce its global workforce by 15 percent by the end of the year.