4 ms·

I don't think there's still someone actively working on the Linux kernel without receiving a salary, and this for the last two decades more or less.

tonyhart7 11mo ago
I mean lets be real here, if you competent enough to contribute into linux kernel then you basically competent enough to get a job everywhere
ahepp 11mo ago
Yeah, that's why I said maybe I'm misunderstanding OP. If that's what OP meant by "monetization" then sure, monetization is great. Companies pay their employees to work on Linux because it's valuable to them. Intel wants their hardware well supported. Facebook wants their servers running fast. It's an ecosystem built around free-as-in-freedom software, where a lot of people get paid to make the software better, and everyone can use it for free-as-in-beer Compare that to the "open core" model where a company generally offers a limited gratis version of their product, but is really organized to funnel leads into their paid offering. The latter is fine, but I don't really consider it some kind of charity or public service. It's just a company that's decided on a very radical marketing strategy.
pabs3 11mo ago
You would be incorrect, LWN tracks statistics about contributor employers for every Linux kernel release and their latest post about that says that "(None)" (ie unpaid contributions) beat a number of large companies, including RedHat by the lines changed metric, or SUSE by the changesets metric. https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1046966/f957408bbdd4d388/ https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1046966/f957408bbdd4d388/
- foota 11mo ago
  Well yes, but the vast majority of changes (~95%, by either changes or lines) seem to be from contributors supported by employers.
  - pabs3 11mo ago
    Sure, but there is still "someone" contributing unpaid.
    - heartsavior 11mo ago
      Definitely individual can start with their own reason. It is questionable whether they can make contributions which scope would be a quarter of the work including design or even larger.
  - gjsjchd6 11mo ago
    [dead]
tomnipotent 11mo ago
Other than a few popular libraries, I'm unaware of any major open source project that isn't primarily supported by corporate employees working on it as part of their day job.
- fragmede 11mo ago
  Ghostty's obviously not a replicatable model, but it would be cool if it was!
- Blackthorn 11mo ago
  What counts as a "major" open source project?
  - deleted 11mo ago
    [deleted]

tonyhart7 11mo ago

I mean lets be real here, if you competent enough to contribute into linux kernel then you basically competent enough to get a job everywhere

ahepp 11mo ago

Yeah, that's why I said maybe I'm misunderstanding OP. If that's what OP meant by "monetization" then sure, monetization is great. Companies pay their employees to work on Linux because it's valuable to them. Intel wants their hardware well supported. Facebook wants their servers running fast. It's an ecosystem built around free-as-in-freedom software, where a lot of people get paid to make the software better, and everyone can use it for free-as-in-beer Compare that to the "open core" model where a company generally offers a limited gratis version of their product, but is really organized to funnel leads into their paid offering. The latter is fine, but I don't really consider it some kind of charity or public service. It's just a company that's decided on a very radical marketing strategy.

pabs3 11mo ago

You would be incorrect, LWN tracks statistics about contributor employers for every Linux kernel release and their latest post about that says that "(None)" (ie unpaid contributions) beat a number of large companies, including RedHat by the lines changed metric, or SUSE by the changesets metric. https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1046966/f957408bbdd4d388/ https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1046966/f957408bbdd4d388/

foota 11mo ago
Well yes, but the vast majority of changes (~95%, by either changes or lines) seem to be from contributors supported by employers.
- pabs3 11mo ago
  Sure, but there is still "someone" contributing unpaid.
  - heartsavior 11mo ago
    Definitely individual can start with their own reason. It is questionable whether they can make contributions which scope would be a quarter of the work including design or even larger.
- gjsjchd6 11mo ago
  [dead]

tomnipotent 11mo ago

Other than a few popular libraries, I'm unaware of any major open source project that isn't primarily supported by corporate employees working on it as part of their day job.

fragmede 11mo ago
Ghostty's obviously not a replicatable model, but it would be cool if it was!
Blackthorn 11mo ago
What counts as a "major" open source project?
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]