The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) has a remit which goes well beyond its name these days, and is taking a central role in developing open specifications for carrier networks that do not necessarily involve Ethernet at all. Its broader approach means it has a widening range of partners, and is achieving the difficult feat of bridging conventional standards bodies, and open source initiatives, in the quest to bring unity to the world of software-defined, virtualized telco networks. The complexity of its relationships was illustrated by its announcement of a new set of tests and certifications, developed in collaboration with standards body ETSI and the Linux Foundation (which, like MEF, is now looking well beyond its original Linux brief and playing…