this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Arguably the biggest contributor to the Linux ecosystem is Red Hat, a for-profit company that offers its technologies to the Israeli military among other things. The biggest contributor to the Linux kernel is Red Har, while the second biggest is Meta. The Linux ecosystem is not inherently nonprofit!
Wow I went to fact check that claim and it's actually no exaggeration. Here is the AP article.
Crazy to see Palantir, Google, Microsoft mentioned alongside ...Red Hat.
It's red from all the blood? well, fuck
If it helps to explain it, Red Hat is owned by IBM.
No love lost for IBM but I still wouldn't expect to see casually mentioned alongside Palantir.
Why do you make the argument that Red Hat is the biggest contributor?
Searching Linux contributor breakdown by organization puts them tied for 3rd at ~7%.
https://insights.linuxfoundation.org/project/korg/contributors?timeRange=past365days&start=2025-06-19&end=2026-06-19
https://commandlinux.com/statistics/linux-kernel-contributors-lines-of-code-statistics/
Don't get me wrong. Intel leading the corporate contributions is worse. lol
Pardon, I remembered it so from a graph I saw a few months ago. Perhaps I misremembered, or perhaps things changed since then
In the first link, look at the parameters in the link. It is for last 365 days. If you take all time, it is Red Hat.
To be explicit: I don't like Red Hat.
Oh... shoot... TIL, thanks!