The 'Who Writes Linux?' Report

With its open framework, the Linux Kernel gets contributions from myriad sources. Sean Michael Kerner reports.

The report also notes that the top contributors to Linux kernel development have shifted over the last year to include more contributions from mobile vendors. The new report from the Linux Foundation is the third annual 'Who Writes Linux' report, summarizing kernel contributions and activities over the past year.

According to the 2010, 'Who Writes Linux' report, the number of code commits to the recent 2.6.35 kernel was 18 percent lower than the 2.6.30 kernel which was released in 2009. There are a number of reasons why kernel code commits have slowed over the past year, including new processes for staging code.

"I think the staging tree additions have something to do with it since it rather inflated the previous version," Amanda McPherson, co-author of the report and vice-president of marketing and developer programs at The Linux Foundation told InternetNews.com.

The report explains that a code staging tree was started with the 2.6.28 kernel. That initial stating tree effort started a process that merged lots of out-of-tree code into the main Linux kernel.

Read the rest at Linux Planet.