The Linux Foundation just published a report with metrics about who and how much is contributing to the Linux kernel. As an Eclipse committer I found this insight into the kernel ecosystem fascinating. Below are couple of data points that got my interest.

Comparing kernel development over the last year (release 2.6.30 with 2.6.22):

• development speed is increasing (patches per release: 50-100% up, lines of change per day: 100% up to 20,000 from 10,000 a year ago)
• kernel size is increasing (+35%, 11.5m LOC vs 8.5m)
• number developers  going up (+32%, 1,150 vs 870)
• number of involved companies going up (+33%, 240 vs 180)
• constant release rhythm of about 12 weeks/release – despite the increases
• focus on commerial development (74,2% done by paid contributors, 18,2 % by non-paid contributors, 7,6% unknown)

Two things that impressed me:

• the ability to keep release speed constant, despite a huge increase in contributors, patches and lines of code changed
• the amount of diversity within the kernel community. The overall top-10 contributors (page 11)  amount to 66.7%.  As of today the 2009-top-10 contributors by LOC at Eclipse.org amount to 92,09%  (dash). So it looks like the weight of the kernel development is better distributed. Note, these are only 2009-YTD contributions.

What did you find interesting or impressive?

Tags: eclipse, linux, Open Source