this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2024

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The Linux Foundation spent 2% on linux kernel support in 2023 (programming.dev)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Financial report of 2023

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 4 months ago (3 children)

So? Does it need more? Seems to be doing just fine.

Not sure why people think the linux foundation should only do the kernel, it supports a wide variety of open source projects.

[+] [email protected] -9 points 4 months ago (3 children)

So? Does it need more? Seems to be doing just fine.

Are we really doing fine? 4% linux market share? Windows is a default? 8 fellows and 28 "leaders"? That's "fine"?

Not sure why people think the linux foundation should only do the kernel, it supports a wide variety of open source projects.

The maintainers are burning out, the developers are graying, there could be more tests, Rust could be a bigger focus, hundreds of positions from trainee and beyond could be funded, contributions via alternative means besides email could be supported, hardware support could be improved, support staff could be employed, lobbying for linux could be done (linux as a default for products, government OS default could be linux, etc.), and so much more directly related to linux could be done.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

4% linux market share?

On desktop. On servers the situation is much different.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago

phones.

and pretty much every device thats not a desktop computer runs linux.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Are we really doing fine? 4% linux market share? Windows is a default?

I suspect that the issue hindering adoption is GNU and other user land projects, not the Linux kernel. Plenty of people use devices that pair a Linux kernel with an easy to use UI and popular software (see Android and Chromebook).

Many people would happily switch to a Linux based OS that had the exact same GUI as their current OS and ran the exact same software. That is not a realistic requirement in practice.

It is possible that Linux would have more adoption if they invested more money into having drivers for a wider range of hardware, but having Linux kernel develers write drivers instead of hardware vendors is not a strategy that scales well.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

realistically, the linux foundation gets all its funding from corporations who have interests in servers, android and embedded. So all the funding goes to those things and not to the linux desktop.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Do you want to bribe the users to use Linux over Windows? Would work with maybe 1% of the users, 50% don't even know what windows is, they're just happy they're still alive and that this funny button allows them to communicate with other seniors.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The foundation supports a bunch of other open source projects, after all there is a lot more to devices that run the Linux kernel then just the kernel.

Also, I found it a but funny that the foundation created the PDF using Adobe InDesign 19.4 (Windows), according to the metadata in file posted on their website. (original | archive of the PDF)

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Looking at the member list it seems like the foundation is supported by companies that probably only care for Linux as a server platform.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Is this the rage baiting flavour of the month? Is the next step complaining that they spent it all on "the rainbow people"? The Linux Foundation supports lots of open source projects and 8 million dollars on kernel development alone is a lot.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

They support new endeavors instead of what matters. They don't support all of the random small projects that are critical for operations.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

What features do you personally think they should add?

To bring that figure up

You do realise you can't just throw more features at the kernel right?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

You do realise you can’t just throw more features at the kernel right?

Kernel maintainers are burning out. Wouldn't call that a feature, would you?

Linux doesn't support tons of hardware - especially mobile. Linux doesn't have job openings for devs from anywhere on the planet, nor are there any open positions for trainees or juniors.

Imagine if you could begin your career (not hobby) working on linux. The expertise in Linux would be much greater.

Imagine if the Linux Foundation did lobbying to get Linux as a default on hardware. People would grow up using Linux instead of first Windows or Mac before switching to Linux.

There is a lot more than just kernel work and 3rd party projects that happen to run on linux.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago

This linked chart image and more can be found on the financial report https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Reports/lf_annualreport23_071024a.pdf?hsLang=en at page 158 (number right bottom of each page), under section Revenue and expenditures.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

They could support useful projects gasps

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

What does "Project support" means? To support all their projects or just LF?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago

Lf has a lot of sub projects, like their awesome CNCF for example.

It's all in the linked pdf.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Regarding the poor font rendering of this image, they should spend a bit on Linux kerning.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

https://sh.itjust.works/comment/12743061

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

It was a joke on kernel/kerning 🤷