Is there a linux community??

[laxmanb]

Well i heard from somewhere that linux has a huge community behind it...

but isn't the kernel(Linux is basically just a kernel... right??) being developed by Linus Torvalds and some other guys... does the community have any role in developing the Linux kernel anymore??

and almost the entire GNU application stack can run on OpenSolaris... it actually has a community behind it....

So really... when it comes to the community... isn't opensolaris better than linux in that regard??

[23meg]

Well i heard from somewhere that linux has a huge community behind it...If they meant that the community of Linux kernel developers is huge, well, it's not really. If what they meant by Linux was all the Linux based operating systems, and thus, what they meant by "Linux community" was all the active Linux users and/or contributors, then that's pretty huge.

but isn't the kernel(Linux is basically just a kernel... right??) being developed by Linus Torvalds and some other guys... does the community have any role in developing the Linux kernel anymore??For what I know, only a small percentage of the code in the current kernel was written by Linus himself, and it's mainly those other guys who are writing the code. Again, if by "the community" you mean the kernel developers, yes, they do all the work. If you mean users, all they can do to contribute is test and file bug reports (and that's hard to do with the kernel).

[ciscosurfer]

Well i heard from somewhere that linux has a huge community behind it...

but isn't the kernel(Linux is basically just a kernel... right??) being developed by Linus Torvalds and some other guys... does the community have any role in developing the Linux kernel anymore??

and almost the entire GNU application stack can run on OpenSolaris... it actually has a community behind it....

So really... when it comes to the community... isn't opensolaris better than linux in that regard??You are posting on site that is indeed, by many standards, considered a Linux community.

There are many places on the Web, other than Ubuntu Forums, where the community spirit of Linux is alive and well. Once such site (there are many, many others), can be found here: http://kernelnewbies.org/

You can learn more about the kernel and kernel development here: http://www.kernel.org/

The Linux Doc Project is also a community of sorts: http://tldp.org/

Linux HQ is another one: http://www.linuxhq.com/lkprogram.html

[grte]

This is why calling it GNU/Linux isn't such a bad idea. There's a lot more to all of this than just a kernel.

[23meg]

This is why calling it GNU/Linux isn't such a bad idea. There's a lot more to all of this than just a kernel.But there's a lot more to it than the GNU software stack as well.

[Hendrixski]

It's a good point you bring up.

OpenSolaris is very awesome, everyone should check it out. It doesn't run on the Linux Kernel, and has a lot of cool features, including pretty much the entire GNU application stack.


So what you're getting at is that "Linux community" may be a bit misleading, a better term perhaps is "Open Source Community"?

[laxmanb]

Yeah... that is what I am getting at... calling it the Linux Community is sort of wrong... it is basically the Open Source Community...

Linus Torvalds is paid millions in $$$ by IBM... the kernel crossed the point where just anyone could participate in developing it... it's basically the great GNU/OSS community that makes linux usable... and most of their source code could be recompiled to run on ANY unix... BSDs, Solaris...

...really why i think they're right when they say it should be called GNU/Linux...

[laxmanb]

there's something called Nexenta... http://www.gnusolaris.org/gswiki

basically Debian/Ubuntu with an OpenSolaris kernel...

[maxamillion]

there's something called Nexenta... http://www.gnusolaris.org/gswiki

basically Debian/Ubuntu with an OpenSolaris kernel...

I've been following that project from a afar ... really want to see how things turn out once it is released stable.

... as far as Linus goes in kernel development, i think only roughly 2% of the current kernel source was written by Linus, but he does still overlook the linux development and I believe he has final say in what gets included in a release, but yes ... what most people refer to as "the linux community" is in fact "the open source community"