Big blue was eighth on the linux foundations list of leading contributors to the linux kernel, and it has a strong history of support for open source. In a linux weekly news story, currently only available to subscribers, an analysis of linux 3. While red hat is the largest corporate contributor to the kernel, thats not where the story ends. What will become of linux giant red hat now that it sold. Microsoft cracks list of top linux contributors wired. The top 10 developers and companies contributing to. Red hat is the first billiondollar opensource company. The linux foundation celebrated the kernels 20th birthday last year, alongside the release of linux 3. Linux turns 25, with corporate contributors now key to its. The linux kernel community came close this year to setting a new record for the number of changes merged in a single release, according to the latest linux kernel development report released today by the linux foundation kernel version 4. The linux kernel, thus, has become a common resource developed on a. For years, microsoft kept its distance from the open source movement.
These are known as linux operating systems the linux kernel is released with the gnu general public license version 2 gplv2 and developed by programmers worldwide. And microsofts days of major linux contributions have come to a halt. Microsofts attempt to get hyperv drivers into the linux kernel. Linux turns 25, with corporate contributors now key to its future. Kernel release status the current development kernel is 3. The top 10 companies sponsoring linux kernel development in the last year. We are recognized by the irs as a 501c3 private operating foundation. Microsoft struggles to get hyperv drivers in linux kernel.
Since then, the top 10 corporate contributors to the kernel have comprised over 55 percent of the total contributions, says the lf. Each project has its own section, where its easy to learn about the. By february 2015 the linux kernel had received contributions from nearly 12,000 programmers from more than 1,200 companies, including some of the worlds largest software and hardware vendors. The long and short of it, though, is that microsoft has contributed roughly 20,000 lines of code to the linux kernel related to their hyperv drivers. This release comes loaded with many new features and better hardware support for nouveau driver. The top 10 developers and companies contributing to the linux. Redmonds contributions have predictably dropped off now that. In july 2011, as reported by, microsoft developer k. Summary of the changes and new features merged in the linux kernel during the 2. This has made linux incredibly customizable as users can choose core components to fit their needs. The total size of the kernel grew from million lines. Enterprise linux operating systems on ibm power systems.
Google and samsung soar into list of top 10 linux contributors. A typical threemonth kernel development cycle can involve over developers working for more than 100 different companies or for no company at all. The truth behind microsofts contributions to linux 3. List or check installed linux kernels using command line. Red hat is a leading provider of opensource solutions and ibm is one of the largest linux contributors. Intel is quickly climbing the ranks of linux kernel contributors, perhaps angling to hedge against its dependence on microsoft. According to the article, microsoft has contributed 361 changespatches to the linux kernel 3. Follow the instructions in any of the standard references to compile the kernel, as you would with any other custom kernel. Srinivasan was among the top contributors to version 3. The recently released who writes linux kernel contributor list reveals that some of the usual supporters of linux red hat, suse, ibm, intel, oracle remain firmly behind the open source os. Who are the most important contributors to the linux kernel. You can find projects that we maintain and contribute to in one place, from the linux kernel to cloud orchestration, to very focused projects like clearlinux and kata containers.
There are 20,323,379 lines of code in the linux kernel as of 2018. The linux foundation has released its annual report on the state of the software, and reports that microsoft has made it into the top 20 of companies that sponsor development of the linux kernel. It is deployed on a wide variety of computing systems, from personal computers, mobile devices, mainframes, and supercomputer to embedded devices, such as routers, wireless access points, private branch exchanges, settop boxes, fta receivers, smart tvs, personal video recorders. Intel overtakes red hat to become top linux kernel contributor. One name on that list that surprised everyone was none other than microsoft. Roughly 15,600 developers from more than 1,400 companies have contributed to the linux kernel since 2005, when the adoption of git made detailed tracking possible, according to the 2017 linux kernel development report released at the linux kernel summit in prague this report coauthored by jonathan corbet, linux kernel developer and editor of, and. Use the dpkg command along with the grep command to list all installed kernel on your debian or ubuntu linux, enter.
The kernel is managed using git version control system so you will also need to understand how to work with git. Linux kernel simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In the linux foundations latest list of who contributes the most to building linux, we find, besides the usual suspects red hat, intel, and novell microsoft. That puts the redmond giant in the top 20 corporate contributors to the project. Microsoft makes top 20 list of linux kernel contributors. What i find most fascinating about the linux contributor list are the contributors that show. Each project has its own section, where its easy to learn. Recently, it released its websphere liberty project under the eclipse public license, and it also has created or contributed to many other open source projects, such as. The linux kernel is an interesting project to study for a number of reasons. What is the best way to contribute to the linux kernel. According to github, microsoft is in a whole other universe of contributions with their high impact on the open source landscape through their large contributions to projects, estimated to be at around 4,550 contributors. Is the aim to show presence in public or learn how others solve problems. The linux kernel is an enormous open source project that has been in. Linux ernel development new mexico state university.
More than 54% of the linux kernel code is written by the top 10 contributors. Vaughannichols for linux and open source july 17, 2011. Since 2005, some 11,800 individual developers from nearly 1,200 different companies have contributed to the kernel. Even so, despite the recent reductions, the huge line count means linux remains the single largest open source project on the planet. I will show that its possible to install, configure, and use this linux distribution. The big three microsoft 4,550 employees that contribute topping off our list suprisely is our good friends at microsoft. The increase in kernel contributions from samsung has been quite interesting.
Initially linux was intended to develop into an operating system of its own, but these plans were shelved somewhere along the way. Latif, theinquirer, 2012 microsoft contributed more code than canonical to linux since 2. It is one of the largest individual components on almost any linux system. The linux kernel is a free and opensource, monolithic, unixlike operating system kernel.
Microsoft was the fifth largest corporate contributor to linux kernel version 3. The linux kernel organization is a california public benefit corporation established in 2002 to distribute the linux kernel and other open source software to the public without charge. Google and samsung soar into list of top 10 linux contributors ars. It is built on top of the free and open source linux kernel and is distributed with system and application software from other open source projects. That might sound like a lot but its actually the smallest the kernel has been for some time. A good place to start is kernel newbies, where you will become familiar with the eudyptula challenge a series of programming exercises that teaches you how to contribute to the linux kernel. The linux kernel community came close this year to setting a new record for the.
There has also been a lot of attention on the other contributors, which now include microsoft. Fifth biggest contributor to linux kernel ukfast news. As the new york times reported yesterday, ibm is in the process of purchasing red hat, one of the largest corporate contributors to the linux kernel. In 2011, microsoft became the fifth largest corporate contributor to linux kernel version 3.
Things have been pretty quiet, but theres enough new stuff here that i wanted to do another rc, and we still have some issues with the rcu changes causing problems when rcu events happen before the scheduler has been fully initialized etc. Microsoft, while still contributing, is no longer a top contributor. The linux kernel itself is primarily supported by its developer community as well and is one of the largest and most active free software projects in existence. The top 10 developers and companies contributing to the. The linux kernel creator, linus torvalds, encouraged contributors to keep their contributions free, and because its free and runs on pc platforms, it gained a considerable audience among hardcore developers quickly. Linux is an operating system kernel used by a group of unixlike operating systems. The linux kernel is an enormous open source project that has been in development for more than 25 years. A few days back, published an article listing the different contributors to the changes in the source code of linux kernel 3. Gnulinux is a collaborative effort between the gnu project, formed in 1983 to develop the gnu operating system and the development team of linux, a kernel.
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