Linux "hobbyist OS" is an urban myth. Crossposts: Ignored, deleted by
"The reality is a developers' group of mostly tech pros working like they would on corporate projects -- with some differences."
In comp.lang.java.advocacy, John Bailo wrote on Mon, 09 May 2005 11:45:28 -0700 RFC792 - ICMP header, 36 bytes RFC791 - IP...
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"Hackers of all stripes and motivations can, thanks to the Internet, download the Linux kernel, modify and customize it any way they like, and "give" their changes back to the Linux development community. One of the greatest strengths of the open-source software process is this "give back" mechanism by which the software continuously improves.
But the romantic notion that Linux is the product of a freewheeling, loosely affiliated band of thousands of independent hackers collectively turning their backs on the status quo is no longer an accurate description of the Linux community -- and hasn't been the case for many years. Looking at the top 25 contributors to the Linux kernel today, you'll discover that more than 90% of them are on the corporate payroll full-time for companies such as HP, IBM, Intel, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat and Veritas, among many others.
And the process they follow to build Linux looks almost exactly like the software-development steps that their employers follow for any other enterprise software project -- with key differences.
My result: "Congratulations, you're a swing voter. When they say 'Soccer Mom', they mean you. Every...
DEVELOPMENT NEVER SLEEPS. A large number of Linux developers contribute code to a group of what's called sub-system maintainers, who review, improve, and approve it for inclusion in the base Linux kernel (the heart of the operating system). Linux looks a lot like how companies should make enterprise software. Specialists work on subsystems, and the code works its way through a series of reviews until the project leader approves the end result and releases it.
After using Linux all these years and seeing what a properly configured Linux system can do on good hardware as compared to a system running...
The biggest difference with Linux, as opposed to a proprietary operating system, is that the development process is open. At virtually every stage of development, the code is available for review by those who have an interest. It's like a global faculty peer review that follows the traditional tenets of the scientific method."
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"Make no mistake, Linux is in professional hands."
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-- With GPL the only thing Microsoft gets for free is nightmares. -- Jean Francois Martinez --
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