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Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

arstechnica.com

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Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#41

Post by 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?"

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#42

Post by 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?

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#43

Post by tjohns »

educating wrote: post #41

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 importa…

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".)

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#44

Post by jbicha »

jlgreco wrote: post #19
pavanky wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> 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.

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...

or

http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/raring/main/installer...

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#45

Post by jbicha »

TheEskimo wrote: post #33
ramidarigaz wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any data to back up that feeling?

If you trust distrowatch's pagehits then yes, it's significantly beating/overtaking ubuntu. http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity

And Mageia is 5 times as popular as Red Hat too, right? ;)

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#46

Post by Kiro »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #10

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?

Because Linux is fundamentally flawed.

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#47

Post by fauigerzigerk »

Kiro wrote: post #46
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #10

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?

Because Linux is fundamentally flawed.

Apparently not too flawed to take over the server market and the mobile space.

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#48

Post by josteink »

ihsw wrote: post #18
jordanthoms wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty crazy for a Samsung filesystem to be actually good, considering their history with RFS...

Well take a look what F2FS stands for: Flash-Friendly File System. It's designed around living on disks that aren't platters of spinning rust. Few companies can call themselves an authority on NAND flash memory and Samsung is definitely at the top of that list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2FS

The point was that Samsung, despite what you mentioned, put out phones like the Samsung Galaxy S1 with their own home-made filesystems RFS.

The performance of RFS once the filesystem became somewhat populated was horrible and was the one single bottleneck for every single operation on the phone. It made otherwise top-end hardware (for the time) unbearably slow, bordering on useless.

Think 10 seconds lag to go back from an email to the email-listing. Those were real delays. Real problems. Caused by RFS.

I have personally experienced people thank me for giving them "a completely new phone" (quote end) when I rooted the phones and converted all RFS-partitions to EXT4. All those problems went away and you finally got the phone you thought you bought in the first place.

Given this, touching any filesystem by Samsung is something I will give serious second thoughts.

To give Samsung credit, they ditched RFS entirely for their second line of Galaxy S phones. The Galaxy S2 used standard Linux filesystems and RFS has yet to resurface anywhere near civilized folks.

Re: Google and Samsung soar into list of top 10 Linux contributors

#49

Post by spartango »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #15
matthewdavis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ubuntu is quickly becoming the server of choice as well Source?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/is-ubuntu-becoming-a-b... A quick Google search will produce this information. Furthermore, I think a survey of new server deployments would be even more in Ubuntu's favour, though gathering such information is no doubt difficult. In the article it does mention that Ubuntu is the most popular distro for Amazon deployments...

The article cites Cloud Market's data on AMIs, which indicate how many AMIs have been derived from the Ubuntu base AMIs, rather than actual deployment numbers. It's an interesting indicator...

Having been on the inside (EC2) and seen the numbers, I can confidently say that Ubuntu's AMIs are the most popular AMIs deployed on EC2. The stock AMIS take the top spots by an overwhelming majority, and most of the lower spots are filled with derivatives of the original Ubuntu AMIs.

Ubuntu's been working hard in the server/cloud space for a while, between the JeOS effort and subsequent, excellent tools for building customized installations around it. It's not just a brand or that makes them popular; with Ubuntu you get a sane system, style, and toolset for your system images.

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