On 5/8/26 02:31, Akira Urushibata via libreplanet-discuss wrote:
... and the Linux Foundation is built around kernel developers.
I wish that were still the case with the Linux Foundation (LF). While,
the LF /was/ built around kernel developers, growing out of the OSDL,
nowadays about the only Linux there is in the name. Both it and the OSI
have been taken over by microsofters who steer both organizations away
from their original goals. See also the similar situations at the
companies Canonical and IBM. However, that is just the start of a very
long list even if one constrains the scope of the complaint to just ICT.
The financial statements for the LF show, and have shown for years, that
only about 2% to 3% of the technical portion of the budget is actually
spent on Linux. See page 20 of the latest report¹. On page 58, you see
the full numbers:
$8,410,114 2.95% Linux Kernel Project
$6,750,480 2.37% International Operations
$15,726,845 5.52% Community Tooling
$15,834,749 5.56% Corporate operations
$16,813,013 5.90% Even Services
$17,733,121 6.23% Project Infrastructure
$21,637,925 7.60% Training
$181,889,435 63.87% Project Support
Most of the non-kernel line items are spent on some really odd things,
not Linux related things. Those odd things include Glasswing and other
boondoggles.
> A dangerous gap between reality and perception thereof exists.
Yes, good call there. A very dangerous gap between reality and
perceptions exists. The late Pieter Hintjens used to assert in his
writings that organizations cannot be reformed once they have gone bad.
Instead he called for outright replacement when they do turn corrupt.
However, in the case of LF that'd be quite hard unless Linus himself
were to take his trademark² and walk. I don't know him but from the
decades of interviews and articles, he gives the strong impression that
he avoids bureaucracy. So that would need some really special
circumstances and support in order to even be considered.
Back when Red Hat was a thing that worked out well for him, but now even
Red Hat is gone in all but name. So some solution needs to be worked
out which will just let him hack on Linux while keeping the microsofters
and other saboteurs out of his hair and his project.
/Lars
¹
https://www.linuxfoundation.org/hubfs/Publications/2025%20Linux%20Foundation%20Annual%20Report_122225a_lr.pdf
² https://www.linuxfoundation.org/legal/the-linux-mark
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