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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] 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.