Linux: More contributors, more code
A lot more than just Linus Torvalds
SaaS data loss: The problem you didn’t know you had
The Linux Foundation, which is something akin to the marketing arm of the open source operating system kernel and its related systems software, has today released its second report detailing how the Linux 2.6 kernel is evolving.
The report reveals how it is coding the changes in the kernel and what companies are sponsoring the programmers who are making the changes - if any. And what is immediately clear is that Linux is much bigger than its namesake and creator, Linus Torvalds.
You can get a copy of the current Linux Kernel Development report here. This is the second edition of the report, following a thorough analysis of the Linux kernel development effort that Greg Kroah-Hartman of Novell, Jonathan Corbet of LWN.net and Amanda McPherson of the Linux Foundation put together in April 2008. (You can get a copy of that initial report, which covered Linux 2.6.11 through 2.6.24, spanning from early 2005 through early 2008, here.)
The kernel development effort is massive, and it is no doubt the crowning achievement of open source development. Since 2005, over 5,000 different programmers - working independently or for nearly 500 different companies that sponsor kernel developers - have kicked in time and code to the Linux effort. The Linux kernel is also a testament to enlightened self-interest.
"The Linux kernel," say the report writers, "has become a common resource developed on a massive scale by companies which are fierce competitors in other areas." You don't see that very often in the IT racket, that's for sure.
Since the April 2008 report came out, the number of developers contributing to the Linux kernel has increased by approximately 10 per cent, and the rate of change in kernel development has picked up. The number of lines of code added to the kernel has tripled, with the latest release, Linux 2.6.30, having over 10,000 patches.
Through it all, the development time for each Linux 2.6 release has stayed fairly constant, with a few wiggles here and there. The goal that the Linux community has set for itself is to get a release out the door every 8 to 12 weeks, and it has taken, on average, just under 12 weeks. Considering that the number of patches has exploded from 3,616 with Linux 2.6.11 to a high of 12,243 with Linux 2.6.25 and has averaged 10,656 in the five releases since then, it is clear that the Linux developers are getting better at what they do.
As the Linux kernel has absorbed so many new technologies in the past two years, particularly relating to virtualization and security, the Linux kernel itself has expanded steadily. Linux 2.6.11 had 17,090 files and just over 6.6 million lines of code, but Linux 2.6.30 weighs in at 27,911 files and just under 11.6 million lines of code.
And that is after lots and lots of code gets chopped out of successive releases and lots of other lines merely get modified, rather than added. With Linux 2.6.11, the kernel had 3,224 lines added per day, on average, with 1,360 lines deleted and 1,290 lines modified. Since Linux 2.6.24, a stunning 10,923 lines of code are added every day, with 5,547 lines removed and 2,243 lines changed.
"That rate of change is larger than any other public software project of any size," says the Linux Foundation's report.
The number of programmers who are stepping up to do the work is on the rise, and so is company sponsorship. Four and a half years ago, the Linux 2.6.11 kernel had 389 developers banging away at it, with 68 known company sponsors (plenty of contributors do the work on their own time or without official sponsorship). Those numbers have grown steadily, and with Linux 2.6.30, there are 1,150 kernel developers contributing, with 240 corporate sponsors covering the paychecks for many of them.
COMMENTS
Windows deployments
Since the apparent metric of deployment is subjective experience, I'll just use my company as the standard for comparison--roughly 90% Windows, 9% Solaris, and 1% other (usually some sort of vendor-provided Linux). Since this is just as "scientific" as any other method used in these comments, Windows apparently has roughly 100 times the deployment of Linux!
Re Is it just me
I'll bite too. Post with your name, no need to be an AC. No one can fault you for having an opinion.
>"The number of lines of code added to the kernel has tripled, with the latest release, Linux 2.6.30, having over 10,000 patches."
>You say that like it's something to be proud of.
It is.
>"Since Linux 2.6.24, a stunning 10,923 lines of code are added every day, with 5,547 lines removed and 2,243 lines changed."
>
>Er, we're still talking about the KERNAL here, right? ~11,000 lines of code added every day?
It kernel - it doesn't shout either.
>I hereby elect Linux as the most bloated, in-efficient load of shit ever produced.
Your choice.
>ITS A KERNAL. It should be about 50K tops.
ntoskernel is somewhat larger than 50k as well. It's unlikely that the kernel in your mobile 'phone is 50k, although I don't really know.
>WTF? Seriously, WTF???
What the fuck. Go on spell it out - it reads so much better. Go easy on the question marks though - they just look silly.
>Ok, I maybe missing something here, but if we're talking about the KERNAL, as I understand the word, then there is something seriously amiss.
Yes, you are. You are probably thinking of microkernels of which the only one I know of is the GNU Mach thing. The Linux kernel consists of all the basic drivers as well as the thing you are thinking of. For example there are many file system types accessible, such as EXT{2,3,4}, NTFS, FAT, XFS, JFS, ReiserFS, MINIX and many many more. You don't have to compile support in for all of these - just those that you require. Also, the kernel is modular. This means that the drivers are hived off into little files and loaded when necessary. They can also be unloaded when they are no longer needed, saving on memory.
My laptop's current 2.6.30-r4 kernel weighs in at a 2.3 Mb disc image. There are 81 modules loaded in memory at the moment but I've unloaded the firewall modules because I don't need them at home really (although the wife's laptop might go rotten sometime!)
Your sub 50k kernel based system - could you tell me what it is please?
I don't know what prompted your diatribe but it seems strange that you seem to feel threatened by a shining example of what Open Source is all about. I think that the ideas behind the GPL etc are up there with Magna Carta or any Constitution designed to give Rights to people. The GNU/Linux kernel development shows that people from all over the world, from many different faiths, skin colours and so on, can co-operate on a massive project and deliver extremely high quality code. Then there are the KDE, Gnome and countless other Open Source project developers beavering away on stuff that they effectively give away for anyone to use. If you use Firefox for example then you are a recipient of the Open Source effort. It's operating system agnostic.
Come on then - reply, in your own name. You're called AC for a reason.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
Data control in the cloud
Cloud based data management
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
