Gentoo debates recruitment schemes

The kernel model is to have a Benevolent Dictator for Life at the top who can act however they want. You can show up on LKML and drop some patches and see if you get quizzed or not...Linux code review is famously harsh and sometimes the procedures to get changes accepted are arbitrary and inscrutable. You notice that vendors shipping a lot of linux derivatives but just because you shipped millions of units doesn't mean that your changes will get added to the Linus kernel on kernel.org, just ask the Android team about that. 8-)

Just because Linux development works doesn't mean that it is the best method or that it's methods are applicable to other organizations.