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Is there a way to fund linux kernel development as a community? (programming.dev)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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] 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.