Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com) [LWN.net]

Government Computer News notes that the Linux kernel has become a corporate effort. "About 1,000 developers contribute changes to Linux on a regular basis, Morton said. Of those 1,000 developers, about 100 are paid to work on Linux by their employers. And those 100 have contributed about 37,000 of the last 38,000 changes made to the operating system."

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Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 0:43 UTC (Tue) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link] (1 responses)

Gee, they're just noticing now? It's a corporate conspiracy! Stop the presses!

Personally, this use of 'corporate' (as in, one body of people working together) is about the only one that doesn't make me gag these days. The fact that you have a lot of people from different employers all contributing toward something that helps out all of their employers at once, just seems like a Pretty Good Idea. :-) Anyone ever heard of 'economy of scale'? :-)

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 16:06 UTC (Tue) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link]

" Anyone ever heard of 'economy of scale'? "

Belive no one has a hard time facing the corporate domination of the Linux Kernel... but is an undeniable evidence that those corporations are above all working for their best interests, not for the grandier interests of general users, as in the spirit of the GPL : 'economy of scale' !

So i belive also that would be no hard time for anyone if the Linux kernel really try hard to catch the interests of other big corporations, more inline with the general populace computers, like Nvidea, ATI, Creative, VIA, SiS, LG, Sony, Asus, MSI... towards a direct code contribution... or,...

'Has the Linux Kernel have loosed all autonomous capability of maneuvering!

That is, IMHO, the subtle understatement of the GNC article.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 1:16 UTC (Tue) by amaloy (guest, #23166) [Link] (5 responses)

Even if Linux ever evolved into a true "corporate beast" in which it was
only serving capitalist corporate interests, the code thus far is GPL-ed.
A fork could easily be created. If this ever happened, I'm sure we'd
hearing a lot more about those other 900 developers.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 1:34 UTC (Tue) by djabsolut (guest, #12799) [Link] (4 responses)

... and how does one un-GPL the code ?

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 1:57 UTC (Tue) by amaloy (guest, #23166) [Link] (1 responses)

Change the GPL? I don't know. Stranger things have happened. I see your
point though. Heh.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 2:18 UTC (Tue) by flewellyn (subscriber, #5047) [Link]

Wouldn't apply. Linus specifically placed the Linux kernel under GPL version 2, and no other. So even if version 3 turned out to be a complete sell-out (which I don't see happening, but for argument's sake...), this would have no effect on the Linux kernel. Other projects licensed under the GPL might or might not have to fork, depending on their authors' wishes; some might wish to specify that GPL v2 was the only one that applied, whereas others might not.

Even so, this is all speculative. The GPL is unlikely to change in such ways that it becomes a non-free license, or adds restrictions that are onerous. So, the kernel and any other GPLed program out there are destined to remain free.

Forking Linux without the GPL

Posted Jul 20, 2004 15:35 UTC (Tue) by southey (guest, #9466) [Link]

1) Ask SCO
2) Declare the GPL invalid as SCO tried to do but dropped that claim for now.
3) Don't say anthing and hope noone cares as that did work for at least Linksys.
4) Write it yourself from scratch - oh wait, that is meant to be impossible for one person to do.

All these have been tried and failed except SCO is trying the first one.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 16:33 UTC (Tue) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link]

... You dont need to,... i mean it would even be very stupid to do it... why break the *economy of scale* ?? ... you can always control the Linux kernel by controling where it can run more adequately. And for that, *corporations* have not only the steering wheel of development, but also the possibility of non derivative, proprietary code in the form of external modules... specialy for those more important hardware device drivers ( Linksys kernel abuse is a typical example)...

Some can tag me as a nasty loudmouth, but the evidence is that the independent developers have lost the control, no matter how many forks they try, to *corporate* interests, which are most probabily not the same of general users and independent developers. This is *natural* in a lot of ways, not only because Linux kernel hackers have to eat and dress, but because the major market right now for Linux, are those same corporations.

But in the future will see what is more nasty, or less natural, if the Linux kernel dont *really* try the common user approach, because IMO, it has only bordering it right now.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 2:40 UTC (Tue) by louie (guest, #3285) [Link]

Given that it seems someone has run the numbers, it would be interesting to know what percentage of that 100 started as volunteers and were then hired, as opposed to folks brought in by corporations without previous volunteer contributions.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 13:07 UTC (Tue) by mwh (guest, #582) [Link]

About 1,000 developers contribute changes to Linux on a regular basis

I think that's pretty incredible, just on its own.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 16:23 UTC (Tue) by iabervon (subscriber, #722) [Link] (4 responses)

I don't think it's terribly surprising that full-time developers are more productive than people working in their spare time. Furthermore, much of the stuff that still needs to get done in the kernel only matters on hardware that hobbyists don't have (such as 1024-processor machines). There's a certain amount of occasional kernel misbehavior that individuals care most about (something making audio editors unhappy, applications getting swapped out in favor of updatedb), and there are things driven by applications (such as inotify), but otherwise, the things desktop users are unhappy about are largely not the kernel's responsibility.

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 20, 2004 16:43 UTC (Tue) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link] (3 responses)

" the things desktop users are unhappy about are largely not the kernel's responsibility "

I see your point... but aren't you forgeting the lack of proper device drivers for a lot of stuff, specialy brand new hardware ?

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 21, 2004 3:47 UTC (Wed) by piman (guest, #8957) [Link] (2 responses)

Such as?

(I can name a lot of devices that need better userspace support, some that need specs released so the kernel can support them at all, but can't think of a consumer-level device that needs better kernel support.)

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 21, 2004 17:00 UTC (Wed) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link] (1 responses)

" but can't think of a consumer-level device that needs better kernel support "

Missing the point completely!

Device drivers in Linux are part of the kernel, ( belive that only in Microkernels they arent)... as such in SiS964 Raid and Sata support, as in VIA827 Raid and Sata support, and proper support in Intel and Adaptec advanced Raid Sata controlers... as in Philips PSC703/705/706 sound boards, and proper support for AC97 sound systems on late southbridge implementations,... not to mention optimun utilization of all caracteristics of modern Mobo chipsets in 'recent' sockets Amd754 & 939, Intel755,,... as in support of DVD-R/R+/Rw,... *as in support for a decent supermount of CD-ROMs*,... as in support for infra-red devices , as in support for Bluethoot devices,... as in *real* good support of all the caracterisrics of modern Graphics controllers as in Geforce 6800 and ATI X800, not to mention the *old* Geforce 5950 and ATI 9800,... as in good support for TV tuners and Video Capture of Pinnacle, and TV tuners of prolink,... as in support for all those fancy buttons in modern keybords and mouses,... as in good support for all usb ADSL and Cable modems,... and good support for Micronet and Zoom wireless networking...

THE LIST COULD BE ENOURMOUS !...

Linux now a corporate beast (GCN.com)

Posted Jul 21, 2004 21:41 UTC (Wed) by man_ls (guest, #15091) [Link]

as in support for all those fancy buttons in modern keybords and mouses

Hmmm... KDE does an excellent job of supporting my multimedia keyboard buttons, as do other independent programs (e.g. lineak). These keys just generate different scancodes. I don't see how the kernel has anything to do with it.