Obstacles to contribution in embedded Linux

Tim Bird has worked with embedded Linux for many years; during this time he has noticed an unhappy pattern: many of the companies that use and modify open-source software are not involved with the communities that develop that software. That is, he said, "a shame." In an attempt to determine what is keeping companies from contributing to the kernel in particular, the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (a Linux Foundation workgroup) has run a survey of embedded kernel developers. The resulting picture highlights some of the forces keeping these developers from engaging with the development community and offers some ideas for improving the situation.

Full Story (comments: 70)