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Torvalds: "People Who Start Writing Kernel Code Get Hired Really Quickly"
alphadogg writes Now more than ever, the development of the Linux kernel is a matter for the professionals, as unpaid volunteer contributions to the project reached their lowest recorded levels in the latest "Who Writes Linux" report, which was released today. According to the report, which is compiled by the Linux Foundation, just 11.8% of kernel development last year was done by unpaid volunteers – a 19% downturn from the 2012 figure of 14.6%. The foundation says that the downward trend in volunteer contributions has been present for years. According to Linus Torvalds, the shift towards paid developers hasn’t changed much about kernel development on its own. “I think one reason it hasn't changed things all that much is that it's not so much unpaid volunteers are going away as people who start writing kernel code get hired really quickly,” he said.
Don't forget. "What, you're willing to work for free and you're not some moron with a fake degree from an college in Bumwad, India? Welcome aboard!"
I can think of at least one friend who made contributions with that intention
This has always been true.
When I was graduating from college I actually had grand designs to rewrite Linux's sound system back at the turn of the century (before ALSA and PulseAudio) and openly told that to recruiters. I ended up deciding that kernel programming was too hard and ended up becoming a PHP developer instead.
In hindsight, I should have plowed ahead since everyone thought the steaming heap PulseAudio was was great.