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.

Comments

Upper management be like

[tehlinux]

You can handle a little verbal abuse?! Welcome aboard!

Re:Upper management be like

[Austerity Empowers]

Or, people who understand how to write good software and understand actual hardware designs & issues are very valuable. And yeah, if you can tolerate difficult personalities, that's always needed...

Re:Upper management be like

[Anonymous Coward]

I really want a T-shirt that says, "I've been flamed by Theo de Raadt". My one foray into the OpenBSD mailing list resulted in that flame. I can't actually remember what it was about, but Theo was probably right ;-) Honestly, I think the infamy that both Linus and Theo have is a little bit unfair. The flames are real and often are a little bit over the top (sometimes a lot, to comical effect), but I can't really recall very many situations where the actual content of the discussion wasn't carefully considered before the flames were emitted. In fact, the fact that these projects flourish is proof that the flames are not overly counter-productive. In contrast, I remember (many, many years ago) as a newly graduated developer I took an interest in the Hurd. I had done a 4th year project on Mach and thought it would be fun to work on it. It may be hard to believe for younger people, but in those days source code for unreleased projects was not that easy to come by, so I emailed the team to ask if I could participate. I was asked to send a resume, which I dutifully did. The reply that came back was incredibly rude and essentially said, "So you're a nobody. We have absolutely no interest in you. Go away and don't ever bother us again." There is a reason that projects like Linux and OpenBSD succeeded while the Hurd did not. The projects are accommodating and welcoming to new comers. You might get flamed for saying/doing something stupid, but you aren't abused for just trying to help. In fact, it is my opinion that most of the practices that people think of as "free software development" actually originated from the successful way that Linux was developed. Definitely before that time I think it was rare to be able to contribute effectively to a project without knowing someone who knew someone.

That's one grey-beard's perspective, anyway. Others may have had other experiences.

Re:I used to contribute..

[earthminion]

@"Linus is only verbally "abusive" when people who should know better screw up." ... and Torvalds:"Writing Kernel Code Get Hired Really Quickly"

Maybe Linus Torvalds (as a Kernel Coder himself), has got fired and is looking for a job.

Re:There is no problem here.

[Cyberax]

I'm was an H-1B and I came to the US for a salary that put me in the top tax bracket. My job description included development of critical medical systems.

H1B is simply an employment visa, that could be used for many purposes. There actually are no other options, even for highly qualified professionals (L1 requires corporate relationships, B1-in-lieu-of-H is extremely rare and Green Card processing takes way too much time).