
Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors - fdm
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/google-and-samsung-soar-into-list-of-top-10-linux-contributors/
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devx
Can't wait for Google to replace ext4 with F2FS by default in Android. It
offers significant speed improvement (~50 percent faster, or even 2x faster in
some cases I think). There are a lot of performance improvements built into
the new Linux kernels, too, along with 64-bit ARMv8 support, so those will be
very welcome, too, if they arrive in Android 4.4.

~~~
Recoil42
This is the first I've heard of F2FS. Are there any good introduction-type
writeups for it anywhere?

How far is it from production?

~~~
amboar
Here is a technical overview:

[https://lwn.net/Articles/518988/](https://lwn.net/Articles/518988/)

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briandh
> More good news is that the "longstanding squabble over Android-specific
> kernel features has faded completely into the background," the report said.
> "The much discussed 'wakelocks' [power management] feature has been quietly
> replaced by a different mainline solution which is used in the latest
> Android devices."

Can someone in the know say what this replacement is?

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chatman
Redhat is at the top, Canonical nowhere to be found.

~~~
Mikeb85
Actually unaffiliated programmers are at the top.

Canonical's contribution is more to the desktop and OS itself than to the
kernel. The majority of desktop installations are either Ubuntu or Ubuntu-
based, and Ubuntu is quickly becoming the server of choice as well.

Ubuntu is leading GNU/Linux adoption worldwide, which in itself is a huge
contribution to the ecosystem, as it gets more programmers interested in
various open source projects.

~~~
pavanky
> The majority of desktop installations are either Ubuntu or Ubuntu-based, and
> Ubuntu is quickly becoming the server of choice as well.

Unless you are using unity, I don't see why a distribution should be called
ubuntu based instead of debian based. A lot of "Ubuntu derivatives" are not
based on unity.

Sure Ubuntu has a betteer installer and pretty themes, but the base is
undeinably debian.

~~~
jlgreco
> _Sure Ubuntu has a betteer installer_

Highly debatable. "Most accessible" installer perhaps, but as far as I am
concerned, Debian's netinst has yet to be beat. Style isn't exactly high on my
list of priorities during installation, it's not like that is something I do
to show off in coffee-shops.

~~~
jbicha
Ubuntu also has a mini iso if you really want the net install. For most
people, the net install will take significantly longer than a regular install
as each package has to be unpacked individually.

[http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/raring/main/installer...](http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/raring/main/installer-
amd64/current/images/netboot/)

or

[http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/raring/main/installer...](http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/raring/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/)

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fauigerzigerk
Seeing so many chip makers up there on the list makes me wonder about the
state of Linux drivers. Why is it that Android and Chrome OS and Windows can
make drivers actually work, but Linux on laptops will still predictably run
hot and drain the battery like crazy?

~~~
Pxtl
Because the hardware and OS companies are working together on this, and the
hardware doesn't ship until it works in its target OS. In Linux, volunteers
are poking around blindly tryign to get the hardware to do what they ask while
the hardware vendor has all the information and isn't sharing it.

~~~
fauigerzigerk
That's what I used to think but now that I see that there are that many chip
makers contributing I'm starting to wonder. But it's probably as varikin says,
they're working on different kinds of drivers.

~~~
yareally
Much of the hardware for the higher end Android devices is composed of stuff
from a handful of OEMs, so that also helps. Also many of the devices that come
out around the same time are using at least some identical components.

SoCs are all mostly Qualcomm or Samsung, radio chipsets are mostly Qualcomm,
LCDs are Sony/Samsung/Sharp/LG and a few others, AMOLED are all Samsung as far
as I know, GPUs are mostly Qualcomm/PowerVR/Nvidia.

Much of the time, the Android modding community ports newer versions of
Android to other devices simply by hoping some OEM releases a newer version of
Android for another device that happens to have some identical hardware
component so they can either drop that particular driver into the other device
or tweak it a bit. Porting the OS is never really the problem. The problems
generally lie in outdated proprietary drivers no longer working with the newer
version of Android (Camera/Bluetooth/Radio/sometimes GPU are the most likely
candidates to break).

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RyanMcGreal
> Linus Torvalds' creation has expended [sic] to 17 million lines of code.

Not to worry: the same code can get used over and over without being consumed.

~~~
frozenport
Also drivers, which for example, aren't part of the Windows source.

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simula67
Microsoft open sourced Hyper V drivers because they were in violation of the
GPL ( [http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/pigs-are-flying-low-
why-...](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/pigs-are-flying-low-why-
microsoft-open-sourced-its-linux-drivers/3433) ). They just made the most of
it afterwards.

------
benmccann
I'm surprised a company making engraving machines is in the top ten.

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educating
I'm glad Linus and many others are reviewing Kernel changes still, but how
long will it be before there is nothing stopping massive corporations from
deciding what can be changed?

And even with all of the experienced eyes, there have to be changes that have
crept in that they didn't realize could be misused, and may still not know.

I appreciate that corporations are the biggest donators, and that is extremely
important, but is there any point in which we say, "Get your own project?"

~~~
tjohns
Would you prefer hardware manufacturers not to contribute drivers? And that
these companies fork the kernel without providing anything back? That's not
very much in the spirit of openness.

(Regardless, I'm not even sure how number of contributions would make any
contributor "unstoppable".)

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RamiK
Is there a break down of what get's worked on by whom? Would be interesting to
see what the hardware manufacturers are doing other than their own drivers.
Probably fairer to if we're counting LOC...

~~~
jlarocco
Why would hardware manufacturers do anything other than their drivers?

They don't even have to contribute drivers, they certainly shouldn't be
expected to go above and beyond that.

