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Linux Foundation spends only 2% of their revenue on Linux

37 points by samspenc 3y ago

deafpolygon 3y ago
We knew this. The Linux Foundation barely spends money on Linux. What I'd like to know is; what are they in the business of, if not Linux?
- vkazanov 3y ago
  LF invests A LOT in the ecosystem around linux: containers, virtualisation, standards, etc. This article is just the stupidest form of sensationalism.
  - dralley 3y ago
    Which is fairly typical for Lunduke
wolverine876 3y ago
What is their mission? Where is the money spent? I could imagine their mission being to use Linux's success to support other FOSS projects, or projects that contribute to the Linux ecosystem (e.g., KDE, OpenOffice, etc.).
- KolmogorovComp 3y ago
  They seem to fund a lot of projects (hundreds): https://www.linuxfoundation.org/projects https://www.linuxfoundation.org/projects Some very established like Automotive Linux or the Open Software Foundation, but also (too?) many cloud stuff of very low importance [1]. [1] https://project-emco.io/ https://project-emco.io/
bryanlarsen 3y ago
The Linux Foundation sponsors 900 different open source projects, so Linux gets a much larger fraction of their revenue than most of their other projects.
jljljl 3y ago
The 2% is the amount spent specifically on the Linux _Kernel_. The top 3 categories are: - Cloud, Containers, and Virtualization: 25% - Networking and Edge: 13% - AI, ML, Data & Analytics: 12% Also worth noting: 72% of the revenue is spent on Open Source Software, and 20% is Spent on Open Source Specifications. Full report is here: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual_report_122123a.pdf?hsLang=en https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual... I don't know what projects fall into those categories, but it's reasonable that supporting Virtualization and Networking could support Linux adoption and stability, without directly contributing to the Linux kernel itself.
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  The CNCF (Kubernetes and ecosystem) is part of the Linux Foundation. The CN is massive and gets huge donations on its own.
- C4tInH4t 3y ago
  Anyone know what the AI and ML they are doing spending 12%. The rest of the spending seems reasonable but don't understand what Linux has to do with AI.
  - jljljl 3y ago
    https://lfaidata.foundation/projects/ https://lfaidata.foundation/projects/
ayhanfuat 3y ago
In case anyone is wondering, here is the breakdown (from https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual_report_122123a.pdf?hsLang=en https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual...): - Cloud, Containers, & Virtualization 25% - Networking & Edge 13% - AI, ML, Data & Analytics 12% - Web & Application Development 11% - Cross-Technology 8% - Privacy & Security 4% - IoT & Embedded 4% - Blockchain 4% - DevOps, CI/CD, & Site Reliability 3% - Open Source & Compliance Best Practices 3% - System Administration 2% - Linux Kernel 2% - System Engineering 2% - Storage 2% - Open Hardware 1% - Safety-Critical Systems 1% - Visual Effects 1%
johnea 3y ago
I wonder how much control Linus has over the foundation? I've just been curious how much of the foundation's direction ares his interests, and how much are the interests of the large corporate "sponsors"...
jazzyjackson 3y ago
Linux is free tho innit

37 points by samspenc 3y ago

We knew this. The Linux Foundation barely spends money on Linux. What I'd like to know is; what are they in the business of, if not Linux?

vkazanov 3y ago
LF invests A LOT in the ecosystem around linux: containers, virtualisation, standards, etc. This article is just the stupidest form of sensationalism.
- dralley 3y ago
  Which is fairly typical for Lunduke

wolverine876 3y ago

What is their mission? Where is the money spent? I could imagine their mission being to use Linux's success to support other FOSS projects, or projects that contribute to the Linux ecosystem (e.g., KDE, OpenOffice, etc.).

KolmogorovComp 3y ago
They seem to fund a lot of projects (hundreds): https://www.linuxfoundation.org/projects https://www.linuxfoundation.org/projects Some very established like Automotive Linux or the Open Software Foundation, but also (too?) many cloud stuff of very low importance [1]. [1] https://project-emco.io/ https://project-emco.io/

bryanlarsen 3y ago

The Linux Foundation sponsors 900 different open source projects, so Linux gets a much larger fraction of their revenue than most of their other projects.

jljljl 3y ago

The 2% is the amount spent specifically on the Linux _Kernel_. The top 3 categories are: - Cloud, Containers, and Virtualization: 25% - Networking and Edge: 13% - AI, ML, Data & Analytics: 12% Also worth noting: 72% of the revenue is spent on Open Source Software, and 20% is Spent on Open Source Specifications. Full report is here: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual_report_122123a.pdf?hsLang=en https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual... I don't know what projects fall into those categories, but it's reasonable that supporting Virtualization and Networking could support Linux adoption and stability, without directly contributing to the Linux kernel itself.

bryanlarsen 3y ago
The CNCF (Kubernetes and ecosystem) is part of the Linux Foundation. The CN is massive and gets huge donations on its own.
C4tInH4t 3y ago
Anyone know what the AI and ML they are doing spending 12%. The rest of the spending seems reasonable but don't understand what Linux has to do with AI.
- jljljl 3y ago
  https://lfaidata.foundation/projects/ https://lfaidata.foundation/projects/

ayhanfuat 3y ago

In case anyone is wondering, here is the breakdown (from https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual_report_122123a.pdf?hsLang=en https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/2023_lf_annual...): - Cloud, Containers, & Virtualization 25% - Networking & Edge 13% - AI, ML, Data & Analytics 12% - Web & Application Development 11% - Cross-Technology 8% - Privacy & Security 4% - IoT & Embedded 4% - Blockchain 4% - DevOps, CI/CD, & Site Reliability 3% - Open Source & Compliance Best Practices 3% - System Administration 2% - Linux Kernel 2% - System Engineering 2% - Storage 2% - Open Hardware 1% - Safety-Critical Systems 1% - Visual Effects 1%

johnea 3y ago

I wonder how much control Linus has over the foundation? I've just been curious how much of the foundation's direction ares his interests, and how much are the interests of the large corporate "sponsors"...

jazzyjackson 3y ago

Linux is free tho innit