The Linux Foundation Updates Study on Kernel Development

by Kristin Shoemaker - Aug. 19, 2009Comments (0)

Today, the Linux Foundation released its updated study of mainline kernel development. The report examines the slight variations in release frequency, the lines of code submitted, deleted and modified since the April 2008 study, new trends in subsystem patch signoff, and the remarkable diversity (and, perhaps, adversity outside the realm of kernel development) of the companies contributing to the kernel.

While the study is obviously pertinent to those working in kernel development, it covers so many aspects of the development process that everyone working with open source software -- developers, community managers, and even non-IT managerial roles -- can find something directly related to their positions.

It's also (perhaps surprisingly) engaging reading for those interested in the Linux kernel but a little foggy on how the kernel relates to the rest of the operating environment or how changes are approved and applied to the kernel tree.

The study clearly illustrates the massive size of the project -- and the statistic that points to a small number of companies contributing the largest amount of change, while relevant, is somewhat misleading. In the 2.6.30 cycle, for instance, there were 1,150 individual developers and 240 companies contributing to the release. The study states that a third of the developers in any given cycle contribute a single patch -- with the 30 most active individual developers contributing over 25% of the changes. While Red Hat leads the corporate charge with a committed change rate of 12%, the study explains that 500 contributing companies were not listed (probably for the sake of brevity) that had contributed fewer, but no less significant, changes.

The Linux kernel is a group effort -- a global collaborative project that's developed and modified by individual programmers on nights and weekends, and technology companies of all sizes during business hours. It was evident in the April 2008 study, and all signs indicate that this massive group effort is building serious forward momentum. The idea that it's so loose, yet so organized -- that companies one would normally picture duking it out in the boardroom are contributing to its code base in a cooperative manner -- is truly remarkable. Then, Linus Torvalds, the kernel's creator and chief coordinator, said it best -- putting one's name on the code one writes fosters responsible -- and rewarded -- development.