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submitted 2 weeks ago by JRepin@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

According to the latest annual report from the Linux Foundation (LF), less than 3% of its budgetary resources are allocated to the thing it is named after!

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[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 122 points 2 weeks ago

Well yeah only 3% go to the kernel. Most of the rest seems to be going to everything else required for a functional OS. The kernel alone is fairly useless.

[-] artifex@piefed.social 51 points 2 weeks ago

So what you're saying is it's not Linux, it's somethingElse/Linux ?

[-] iByteABit@lemmy.ml 36 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)
[-] Jesus_666@lemmy.world 28 points 2 weeks ago

You see, that's just inaccurate. GNU/Linux is not equivalent to GNU+Linux. That would be addition; this is division. The bigger Linux gets, the smaller GNU/Linux becomes.

That's why they've developed GNU/Hurd. Hurd is unlikely to ever amount to much, meaning that GNU/Hurd will never evaluate to a small value. And that is cold, hard mathematical fact.

[-] tabular@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Hurd rescently became an option with Gentoo Linux (experimentally). Debian offers it too.

[-] Jesus_666@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

As does Arch AFAIK. It's still very niche, though.

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[-] RalfWausE_der_zwote@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

GNU/Hurd will rise as soon as the abusers of that penguin abomination will realise they have been tricked by big tech. The free future is Gnu/Hurd and 9Front.

[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 18 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Its software packages required to build functional GNU/Linux operating systems. Yes.

Normal people just call all of this "linux" for simplicity, but annoying people keep feeling a need to point out the distinction.

[-] artifex@piefed.social 3 points 2 weeks ago

Right. And that somethingElse is probably not Unix

[-] ergonomic_importer@piefed.ca 8 points 2 weeks ago

Or as I like to call it, somethingElse+Linux

[-] tabular@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

GNU stands for "GNU's not Unix", which itself means 'GNU's not Unix not Unix'. If two nots logically undo each other then you might say GNU is Unix but in programming you would likly apply one assignment at a time: expressed as GNU = ! Unix = Unix or simply GNU's not Unix.

[-] lauha@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago

the kernel alone is fairly useless

Any essential part is usually fairly useless without the other parts

[-] dragnucs@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 weeks ago

Seems to be going to Corporate Operations, Event Services, Project Support. But little goes to Linux kernel, and project infrastructure.

[-] BartyDeCanter@piefed.social 18 points 2 weeks ago

What do you think Project Support is?

[-] Squizzy@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Well they could do a far better job of getting across what the expenses are. They may as well say 100% went to things relevant to the linux foundation.

[-] ms_lane@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Paying a bunch of marketing people to fly around the world attending conferences that only they go to, to talk about more conferences they'll be hosting for the same purpose.

[-] ech@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, the money's "going to" two of the least funded categories in the chart. 🙄

[-] jaypatelani@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

That's i believe is diversity in OS market. More funding to NetBSD and other alternative OSes should be done.

[-] neclimdul@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah I was wanting more. This looks like things that support development. Being open-source, a lot of developers have day jobs elsewhere so kinda makes sense the line items for paying them might be small.

Was this coming from within the kernel community?

[-] psycotica0@lemmy.ca 113 points 2 weeks ago

It's nice of this poster to ignore the $181m spent on "other projects" and conclude this is some kind of scam. If we include the Linux Kernel with the other projects part, that's about 67%, or two thirds, of their expenses are paying for various and assorted open source projects. Among them the kernel. So if you're a "cash and cash alone" person, then 2/3rds of your money is still going as cash to software projects.

And if we include things like community tooling and project services, which may help a project in ways beyond just cash that becomes about 78% in total, or over three quarters.

That's pretty good, I think, but to each their own.

[-] stoicEuropean@lemmy.ml 58 points 2 weeks ago

Mhm, I think this is more complicated than it looks. The LF today isn't a direct Linux kernel funding body and more an umbrella for open-source governance (infrastructure, events, certification, security work, to name a few). So the other 97% are not necessarily wasted. Also, many kernel developers are paid outside of the LF by companies like Red Hat, Google, AMD, SUSE, Microsoft. So in reality there is alot more cash flowing towards Linux kernel development. A better/sharper criticism would be that the LF has become an industry consortium for "enterprise open source" or so, rather than a Linux-centered foundation. The counterpoint on the other Hand is that this founded infrastructure is exactly what allows large-scale open-source projects to function in the first place.

[-] huf@hexbear.net 14 points 2 weeks ago

yeah, some of the budget goes to what looks like maintaining infrastructure that other projects use (i assume). but the 12% AI and 4% blockchain are pretty indefensible...

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[-] blackbrook@mander.xyz 13 points 2 weeks ago

There could well be a kernel of valid criticism in it but this article is so exaggerated and strident, that I can't take it seriously. It's like people who scream GOVERNMENT WASTE about every budget line item that is not obviously important to someone who has only the most simple and ignorant understanding of it.

[-] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 29 points 2 weeks ago

Corpos doing what corpos do better.

12% to AI

Yikes

[-] eldavi@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 weeks ago

that was the most worrying part of it to me; nothing is safe from ai apparently.

[-] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

Linus and Greg aren't willing to save anything either.

[-] eldavi@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 weeks ago

They rolled over on the American government's demand to expell Russian contributors like puppies begging for a treat.

Linux has become as captured as any Western institution.

[-] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago
[-] eldavi@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago
[-] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago

No.

America is a continent. There are more non yankees (or genocide supporters) than yankees in America.

[-] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

i understand what yankee means and my use of the word "american" here was intentional.

yes, the yankee gov't has captured linux.

a significant portion of the people in this community don't know the word "yankee" but they're capable of understanding it and to express the idea to them, you have to use words or expressions that fit the context this group's frame of reference so that they can fully understand the idea you're trying to express without it getting lost in translation; the people who exist at the intersection of multiple identities call it "code switching".

[-] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

I'm not going to dispute that. But that got me thinking: how to express what collectivist values entail to a highly individualistic individual? Shared gains aren't a commodity to them. I'd like to hear (well, read) your perspective.

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[-] admin@lemmy.my-box.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago

Sincerely, what did you expect? I mean, obviously it's hyped right now, but let's be real - AI is not going to go away anymore.

[-] OwOarchist@pawb.social 23 points 2 weeks ago

Okay, but … while in some circles, “Linux” does indeed mean just the Linux kernel, it’s often used more casually to refer to the entire operating system and open source ecosystem that make Linux usable on servers, home PCs, and a bunch of other devices.

Sure, strictly speaking, only the kernel is technically “Linux” … but if you have a machine with only the kernel on it and absolutely nothing else, you’re going to have a bad time and that machine won’t be useful for very much.

While only a small portion of their funding goes to the kernel, it seems from looking at their charts that a majority of their funding is going to things that will (at least in theory) help make life better for most people who are running and using the Linux kernel. My only real complaint from looking at those charts is that they’re spending 12% on “AI, ML, Data & Analytics”. Fuck that shit.

[-] ms_lane@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago

'Corporate Operations' gets double the budget of the Kernel itself.

Some people are living very well doing absolutely nothing.

[-] savvywolf@pawb.social 10 points 2 weeks ago

Most actual Linux code changes come from large companies implementing or improving drivers for their own hardware.

The Linux foundation mostly manages the Linux "brand". That is, all the logistics and infrastructure required to run a huge project with many stakeholders.

[-] RainbowBlite@piefed.ca 4 points 2 weeks ago

Why is it so important for Linus Torvalds' salary to be in the top 10? He might think it is fair, based on his current contributions to the project.

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this post was submitted on 08 May 2026
108 points (76.0% liked)

Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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