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Linux Credits File Reanimated

Posted by Hemos on from the how-the-world-expands dept.

No_Weak_Heart writes "In his in depth paper Evolution of the Linux Credits file, Ilkka Tuomi discusses the challenges of extracting data from open source files, and then uses the extracted data to describe the geographical expansion of the core Linux developer community."

29 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. Who Knew? by WarriorPoet42 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Luxumburg has more per capita changes then any other country?

    Finland needs to support its baby and fight back!

    --Ignore this thread as first posts are automatically modded down.

    1. Re:Who Knew? by pe1rxq · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The numbers aren't that far from eachother....
      Luxemburg has such a small number of residents that a few coders more or less can have a huge impact on the number.

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  2. Where is Ken Brown? by KrisCowboy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Look at this file you insensitive clod. Linus did write the kernel!!!

  3. Credit List? by passthecrackpipe · · Score: 3, Funny

    Make sure Tanenbaum, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are listed, otherwise Ken Brown will get upset. Who knows what he will get up to if provoked - he may call all Linux developers thieves, or even worse names!

    --
    People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
  4. Awww... not animated... by jrrl · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Somehow I was imagining a world map with little lights popping up to show how development spread o'er the world over time.

    Very cool anyway, but not as eye-candy-ish.

    -jrrl.
    --
    Self Serving Sig: Hosting Comparison
  5. Where's SCO? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Odd..
    I couldnt find SCO in there..

  6. Related News by deutschemonte · · Score: 4, Funny
    "and then uses the extracted data to describe the geographical expansion of the core Linux developer community."
    In a related breaking story, SCO is using these results to track down and sue Linux developers RIAA style.
    --
    The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.
  7. Statistical Significance by 14erCleaner · · Score: 3, Interesting
    From the article: In July 2002, the Credits file contained information on 418 developers. With two exceptions, all were male.

    Anyone who thinks there's little difference between the way men's and women's brains work should consider this statistic. I don't think that societal expectations, peer pressure, or discrimination can account for the 200-to-1 ratio in this case. It's probably safe to conclude that the kernel-hacker gene resides on the Y chromosome.

    --
    Have you read my blog lately?
  8. The real question is... by TechnologyX · · Score: 5, Funny

    "In July 2002, the Credits file contained information on 418 developers. With two exceptions, all were male "

    2 female types listed in the credits file? With contact information? Time to do a little research of my own...

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    Slashdot sucks
  9. Or... by bonch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It could just be that nerdy males with fewer social skills tend to gravitate toward introverted tasks that don't require a lot of personal interaction with others.

    Women, by nature, are more social creatures. Sitting alone in a basement at night hacking a kernel isn't necessarily something they can't do (I've met plenty of women who blow me away in science in math), it's something they don't want to do. Hell, I had to ask one of my female friends to help me with some SQL statements for my website. She is a complete SQL expert, and better than any male I know.

  10. Re:Patently and Blatently False... by leerpm · · Score: 3, Informative

    The credits file is not a listing of every single developer who has ever contributed a line of code or more. It is a list of those who have made significant contributions, and few who made relatively minor.

    Just because IBM set up a Linux lab in India, does not mean that lab is contributing in any significant way to the codebase of Linux, though they might be helping in other ways such using Linux at IBM.

  11. looks like a good job... by xot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thats a good job to have in the corporate IT world.Just make sure everyone gets credit... and you get paid!
    I would say just make sure the guy who pays you gets credit and everything else runs fine. :-)

    --
    Lord of the Binges.
  12. Potential flamers please read by GillBates0 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Those of you intending to point out that there are "very few" open source contributors from India (or largely developing countries) please take a moment to ponder and note that not every computer enthusiast in the world has the resources, means or relative luxury needed to actively contribute or even pursue a hobby.

    Most programmers from the developed countries (read US, Europe) take the computer/network resources and even their standard of living for granted. Computer prices and network acces in developing countries is still sparse and exorbitant for most people.

    Moreover, writing code for a hobby is at the back of the minds of most people, when their foremost worries are basic comforts needed for a comfortable life (read electricity, job, steady income, etc). It is only when a comfortable life is guaranteed, that a person has the luxury/option/motivation to pursue hobbies.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
    1. Re:Potential flamers please read by perly-king-69 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Quite. It would have been nice touch if the per-capita table had some sort of GDP/capita value factored in, rather than assume each person had equivalent access to computer hardware.

      Lies, damned lies, and statistics... ;-)

      --

      --
      This sig is inoffensive.

  13. The CREDITS file is not very accurate by mocm · · Score: 5, Informative

    The people in the CREDITS file are not all the people that work on the kernel. You should look at the Copyright notices in the source code.
    E.g. I am not in the CREDITS file (not that I need to be), but I have Copyright notices in over 30 files. I guess there are many more people working on parts of the linux kernel than are noticed in the CREDITS file.

    --
    ***Quis custodiet ipsos custodes***
    1. Re:The CREDITS file is not very accurate by ischemic · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Yes, the CREDITS file is not comprehensive, and (at least in 1998), the copyright notices were somewhat better but also not definitive.

      You might be interested in a (old, 1999) paper on how you can use the CREDITS file to try to figure out how the Linux kernel interacts by looking at how developers work on different parts of the system.

      I think that the lack of definitiveness of the CREDITS file and copyright notices is very understandable given the way they are updated manually. It might be an argument for having meta-data associated with source code. This type of information is encoded in a revision control system if everyone uses is, but with open source, the author of some code fragment is not necessarily going to log into your cvs repository and edit the text. Someone else may be cloning the code and inserting it (with the author's GPL blessing). It would be nice if there were a standardized way to track these types of edits and code provenance. Might be especially useful in refuting SCO type FUD.

      I haven't looked at what Linus is doing with enhanced copyright tracking; is that something that can be standardized/automated/shared with other projects?

  14. So not true by BlackHawk-666 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am sick of hearing this "lone hacker theory" rubbish. Since anyone who works on the kernel is going to be constantly emailing, newsgrouping, and using IRC/IM there is no reason to label them as unsocialable. Just because you are using a computer to do the socialising doesn't make it count less than an afternoon at the pub with your workmates. If they were sitting in their basements and hacking their own sources and never communicating with other developers then your model might hold up, but it just isn't relevant any more.

    --
    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
  15. You've got to be joking by bonch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am sick of hearing this "lone hacker theory" rubbish. Since anyone who works on the kernel is going to be constantly emailing, newsgrouping, and using IRC/IM there is no reason to label them as unsocialable.

    You think typing text characters into an e-mail or on IRC is the same as actually speaking to somebody in person right in front of you, staring them in the face?

    Just because you are using a computer to do the socialising doesn't make it count less than an afternoon at the pub with your workmates.

    Socializing on a computer isn't the same as socializing in person. Comparing it to an afternoon at the pub with your workmates his hilaroius. You may as well say you're actually "speaking" to me right now, and it's the same as if we actually ran into each other in person and started debating. Completely different. IM, IRC, and e-mail allow you to communicate with others without actually confronting them face to face.

    1. Re:You've got to be joking by phrasebook · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I doubt you'd be using so many f-words if you were speaking to someone face to face. If your communication online is similar to offline as you say, then it's just as well you do most of it here and not out there!

    2. Re:You've got to be joking by bonch · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have Asperger's syndrome. I find it hard to talk to people face to face. Over the Internet, it's much easier, and as I said above I have more online friends than offline.

      First, you illustrate the difference you have between face-to-face communication and faceless communication behind a keyboard. I'd love to see you calling someone an "insensitive friggin' clod" in person, complete with all your profanity.

      Don't give me the same retarded bullshit about it "not being the same thing"-it is.

      But then, you claim it's the same thing. If it's the same thing, why can't you talk to people face to face? Because it's not the same thing. With Asperger's, you should know that better than anyone.

      There is more to socialization than sending words to people. My point was that women excel in this area and prefer it to sitting alone all day behind a keyboard sending text to people, when they could be laughing, smiling, and expressing themselves face-to-face with other actual humans that aren't just little text names in IRC.

      I don't doubt that personal relationships can be formed over the Internet, but in most cases it's not the same kind of personal relationships that form between people who actually see each other and physically interact. It's how our brains work.

  16. Re:Research ?????? by Mr2cents · · Score: 5, Informative
    Talking about research, did you read the article? Did you check the credits file? Let me show you a snippet:
    N: Matti Aarnio
    E: *** (not printing someone else's email here as a spambot target)
    D: Alpha systems hacking, IPv6 and other network related stuff
    D: One of assisting postmasters for vger.kernel.org's lists
    S: (ask for current address)
    S: Finland

    N: Dragos Acostachioaie
    E: ***
    W: http://www.arbornet.org/~dragos
    D: /proc/sysvipc
    S: C. Negri 6, bl. D3
    S: Iasi 6600
    S: Romania
    A good part of the article is dedicated to the analysis, I suggest you check it out. Of course, it's difficult to resist writing an ad-hoc opinion when you see an article with only a few comments..
    --
    "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
  17. Cue the feminists by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    During the evolution of Linux, new contributors have been continuously added to the file. In July 2002, the Credits file contained information on 418 developers. With two exceptions, all were male [1].

    Obviously Linux Kernal Development suffers from a serious lack of diversity. Time to get more young girls interested in kernal development. Perhaps we could have a "Female Kernal Developer" class required in the 6th grade....

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  18. I found SCO by Donny+Smith · · Score: 2, Funny

    >I couldnt find SCO in there

    They're represented in credits by Linux Torvalds

  19. Hold on there doggy. by cshark · · Score: 2, Funny

    Didn't microsoft just patent the process they're using to do this?

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    This signature has Super Cow Powers

  20. Trends by Ian+Peon · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Studies like this are interesting ways to spot trends. Note the levelling, then steep rise in US developers right around the time the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 seen in figure 2

    Anytime a large number of geeks have free time on their collective hands is good for the Linux kernel. Though, that shouldn't be a suprise to many here...

    --
    Never never never smoke crack before geometry class!
  21. Meanwhile, back in 1975-1977 at DEC... by Ian.Waring · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Of the 5 core developers of the VAX/VMS V1.0 kernel, 2 were female. Nancy Kronenberg and Cathy Morse if my memory serves me right. Alongside David Cutler, Richard Hustvedt and another Richard that went to Microsoft via Apple (Pink). Oops, maybe 6 developers - Andy Goldstein on the file system.

  22. Who says the other two are female? by Crag · · Score: 2, Funny

    It says two exceptions, not two women. They're probably aliens, or dogs, or elder gods or something.

  23. Good news for you by vijaya_chandra · · Score: 2, Informative

    If only you had clicked on the little [1], after the sentence would you have realised that your search space can probably be larger.

    1. There are six names in the Credits file whose gender could not be verified by searches on the Internet or by asking other persons mentioned in the Credits file. As no information indicated that the persons in question would be female, I have made the assumption that they are males.

    The author I guess would be glad if you share the results of your research with him

    (Karma be damned; I am no better than an AC anyway)

  24. How reliable? by vijaya_chandra · · Score: 3, Informative

    Consider the following entry :

    N: Vijaya Chandra
    E: v@tachyontech.net
    W: http://www.tachyontech.net
    D: Stress Tester - /dev/null
    D: Stress Tester - /dev/random

    (You needn't wake up your grep. This entry has been discontinued in the post-0.x kernels)

    Tracerouting to tachyontech.net would tell you that I am in the UK, while only our web/pop servers are in england.

    'Chandra' can either be a male or a female. But the androgynous 'Vijaya' with the 'a' at the ending would score high towards females.

    I would be damnably pi*ed of to find myself considered as a female (unless of course I am thrown into the male-by-default group, which seems to be the case in the article) kernel developer from the UK

    So how reliable can the results of such an evaluation be??

    (Karma be damned; I am no better than an AC anyway)