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The Myth of the Isolated Kernel Hacker

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the get-outta-yer-mom's-basement dept.

Ant writes "The Linux Foundation's report (PDF) on who writes Linux — "... Linux isn't written by lonely nerds hiding out in their parents' basements. It's written by people working for major companies — many of them businesses that you probably don't associate with Linux. To be exact, while 18.2% of Linux is written by people who aren't working for a company, and 7.6% is created by programmers who don't give a company affiliation, everything else is written by someone who's getting paid to create Linux. From top to bottom, of the companies that have contributed more than 1% of the current Linux kernel, the list looks like this: ..."

11 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. The Myth of the Isolated Colenel Hacker by ExE122 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Captain Benjamin Willard was not a myth!

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  2. shocking by alen · · Score: 4, Funny

    and i thought IBM and Red Hat just took the code and didn't give their changes back to everyone else

  3. Myth definitely false! by dkf · · Score: 4, Funny

    Linux isn't written by lonely nerds hiding out in their parents' basements

    Of course! There's the lonely nerds hiding out in their parents' attics as well. More light, less ground water.

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    "Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
    1. Re:Myth definitely false! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      That's ok, sometimes men hit on my girlfriend even when I'm with my girlfriend.

      If she ever took them up on it, I'd just feel sorry for the poor bastards. I hope they have large bank accounts, is all I can say.

  4. Re:Not quite a myth. by Rogerborg · · Score: 3, Funny

    individuals are still the largest single group

    Something's wrong with the intartubes. Can someone switch the Dichotomy Filter back on please?

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  5. Re:the list Before a karma whore can... by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 3, Funny

    0% SCO

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  6. Re:the list Before a karma whore can... by OzPeter · · Score: 2, Funny

    How are these companies "businesses that you probably don't associate with Linux?" I've heard of at least the top 8, and they are all pro-Linux companies as far as I know.

    Can you give me some info on "Independent Consultant"? .. they sound like a company I want to work for

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  7. Re:the list Before a karma whore can... by Lord+Ender · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's nonsense. Where's SCO on that list? We all know SCO wrote a big part of the Linux kernel.

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  8. The nerd correlation is incidental... by sarkeizen · · Score: 2, Funny

    Linux isn't written by lonely nerds hiding out in their parents' basements. It's written by people working for major companies...who just happen to also be nerds and like to be close to mom.

  9. Re:Not quite a myth. by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Funny

    I see nothing wrong with the statement. Most kernel developers are single. The group of them, as a whole, are all single!

  10. Re:You know what company is shamefully absent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Oh good, I was confused until you made a car analogy.