Binary Code

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of Computerworld soundly debunks the myth that Linux is developed by unpaid hobbyists in their spare time in Who writes Linux: Corporate America:

I’m not sure why the silly notion that “Only .10068% of Linux kernel developers are paid” keeps circulating, but it does. So, let me just say, once and for all, Linux is written, for the most part, by paid software engineers and programmers from major American corporations.
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By January 24, 2008, when the 2.6.24 Linux kernel was released, over a thousand developers from over 186 companies were contributing to the Linux kernel. That doesn’t count any work done on any particular Linux distribution or other open-source program.

Read his article for the specific details, or the original Linux Kernel Development (April 2008) by the Linux Foundation for the nitty-gritty details.

And a “thank you” to all the companies out there putting money behind Linux.