THE NUMERATOR
Who funds Linux development?
It is often assumed mostly volunteers develop Linux. But major information technology firms invest funds and employee time into the developing the Linux operating system kernel. The biggest single group, "None," consists of developers working on their own time. But the lion's share — 86.1 percent of contributions — was from organizations. (At least one company will not be contributing any longer: SGI claimed bankruptcy earlier this month.)
The Top 10 Sources of Linux Enhancements
| Organization |
No. of changes submitted |
Percent of changes |
| 1. None |
11,594 |
13.9 |
| 2. Unknown |
10,803 |
12.9 |
| 3. Red Hat |
9,351 |
11.2 |
| 4. Novell |
7,385 |
8.9 |
| 5. IBM |
6,952 |
8.3 |
| 6. Intel |
3,388 |
4.1 |
| 7. Linux Foundation |
2,160 |
2.6 |
| 8. Consultants |
2,055 |
2.5 |
| 9. SGI |
1,649 |
2.0 |
| 10. MIPS Technologies |
1,341 |
1.6 |
Source: Linux Foundation
Editor's note: At least one company will not likely be contributing any longer: SGI (formerly Silicon Graphics Inc.) recently declared bankruptcy and was sold last month to Rackable Systems.