this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
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I think it's obvious (and has been) that the linux kernel needs more contributors and more maintainers to share the load*. The Linux Foundation spending 2% on kernel development in 2024 (page 18) does something but not nearly enough.

Is there a way that we as a community / third parties / non kernel devs can fund kernel developers and maybe even get a kernel maintainer in there? Maybe something already exists or do we have to start something ourselves?

*: Yes, I understand our overworked maintainer problem (being one of these people myself), but here we have people actually doing the work! - Greg KH

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Hmmh, my sentences regarding funding were a bit short. I'm always a bit unsure whether that's our main concern in Free Software. And whether making it more about money is a good idea to begin with. I mean sure, you're entirely correct. And developers invest massive amounts of time. And they need to make a living. But for a comptetive offer for a lead position we're probably talking 6-figures a year for full-time work. And that's a massive amount for community donations. And more money means more stakeholders, more different interests and non-technical motivations to pay attention to. I mean we probably also don't want companies to leech from our donations. So how should the developer handle drivers from for-profit-companies? Do they incorporate that on our time? What about laying groundworks for things that later-on get used by a large company? I suppose bringing in community money is going to raise a few questions and it's going to be complicated... I think it'd have to come with no strings attached. And there's also always the additional complexity with managing money, keeping an eye on where it goes, hiring the people... And that's going to require more money or volunteer work... I mean I'm not saying it's wrong or anything. Just easier said than done...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

The thing about the kernel in particular is it's already mostly about money. With very few exceptions most maintainers are employed by someone, even just the Linux foundation, to work on the kernel full time. There's very little community involvement outside of the random patches here and there that community members submit. I think what OP is getting at is it would be nice if there was a community sponsored maintainer so it wasn't all just corporate employees but that likely means providing financial compensation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

And a change in project structure. As of now there are Linux Torvalds and Greg KH for the broader picture. Everyone else is concerned with one (or more) subsystems as far as I know. But they avoid messing with other people's areas of authority. So with the current project structure, we could appoint someone who deals with a specific field, like Wifi drivers. But I suppose we want more influence than just in one niche. There are a lot of topics of interest to the general public. So I don't see how that would align with the current project structure, either.