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Major Open Source Projects: How much money do they actually make?
Comparing the revenue of some of the biggest names in Free & Open Source Software.
May 10, 2023
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Here's a seemingly simple question: Which Open Source projects and foundations bring in the most money?  And, as a follow on to that... which bring in the least?

GNOME?  KDE?  Mozilla?  Apache?  The Free Software Foundation?

There are a lot of big names in the open source world... but how much money do the most recognizable names in Free and Open Source Software actually earn in yearly revenue?

I wanted to know.  So I collected revenue details for 17 major open source foundations -- by digging through IRS filings, Annual Reports, and every other source of information I could get my hands on.

Then I stuck them in a spreadsheet and made some fancy-shmancy charts.

Some of the results were expected and obvious... others I found truly surprising.  Honestly, some of the results are a gosh darned travesty.

It's charting time!

Let's start by putting all of the open source foundations into a single chart, and sort them... in order.

Note: Some of these organizations had not yet published their fiscal numbers for 2022... thus I used 2021 numbers across the board.

Wow.

The immense revenues of Mozilla ($600 Million), The Linux Foundation ($177 Million), and Wikimedia Foundation ($162 Million) really skews the chart.

But that was to be expected.  We all knew that those three organizations brought in mega-bucks.

So let's get rid of those three completely and re-do the chart.

There we go.  That's actually somewhat readable now.

But... holy smokes.  I had no idea the Eclipse Foundation was that big.  Bigger than some of the biggest names in open source.

Let's go ahead and get rid of the Eclipse Foundation as well.  Really zero in on the projects that are big, big names in the world of Linux, BSD, and open source.

Note: I broke out Thunderbird (the email client) from Mozilla, even though it is technically part of Mozilla.  The Thunderbird project reports their revenue indipendently, so I thought it would be interesting to compary the donation revenue from a single application with some of the other foundations.

I find this chart absolutely wild.

Here are just a handful of observations based on the data above:

  • KDE and GNOME are among the major open source foundations with the smallest revenue.  Each barely earning enough to pay for a few full time employees.
  • The Software Freedom Conservancy (aka "SFC") brings in more revenue than The Free Software Foundation, Apache, and FreeBSD combined.  I knew that the SFC had been active in multiple legal matters, and aided several projects... but I had no idea that it was, in all reality, the largest foundation focused on supporting Free Software.
  • On that same topic... that also means that the Free Software Foundation is not the largest foundation focused on supporting and advocating for Free Software.  Huh!  Who knew?
  • The Open Source Initiative is bringing in close to half a million per year?  One has to ask... why?  What do they do that's worth almost as much as GNOME and KDE combined?
  • The Rust Foundation sure does bring in a lot of money.  Considering their recent objection to people using the word "Rust"... this raises a lot of questions about what their plans are and what they are using those dollars for.
  • Thunderbird brings in more revenue than Blender?  Wild!  I was not expecting that.
  • On that note... I see significant new features and updates happening with Blender regularly.  But not so much with Thunderbird.  Clearly Blender is better at using those funds for development than Thunderbird.
    • As a follow-on to that thought... Thunderbird Revenue jumped to over $6 million last year, in 2022 (the data for this chart is from 2021).  Do we really see $6 Million in improvements to Thunderbird every year?
  • Not to harp on Thunderbird... but more money goes to the Thunderbird Email Client than... GNOME, KDE, OpenBSD, and FreeBSD... combined.  And that's before that 2022 revenue jump.
  • FreeBSD brings in more than twice what OpenBSD does.

Overall, one thing that strikes me is how astoundingly little some pretty critical projects and foundations bring in.  Considering the prevalence of the GNOME desktop -- and usage by Red Hat, Canonical, SUSE, and so many others -- I would think it would be better funded than that.

While this data does not represent every project or foundation in the open source world... it is a solid cross sample.  And I found the results, at least in some cases, a bit... weird.

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The Unpublished Anti-Lunduke Hit-Piece
A Tech Journalist interviewed me for a hit-piece article. But the questions made them look bad, and they shelved the story. So I'm publishing their hit-piece for them.

Back in September, shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I was contacted by a Tech Journalist writing for FossForce.com (a smaller, Open Source focused publication) who was working on an article around Open Source, Antifa, and the Lunduke Journal’s coverage of those topics.

This particular outlet had, several months prior, run an “anti-Lunduke” hit piece without first reaching out for comment — which resulted in their most popular article (at least on social media) in quite some time.

With that in mind, it seemed reasonable that they’d want to repeat that success with another “anti-Lunduke” story.

This time they were doing the responsible thing. They reached out to the subject of the hit-piece article with questions. I like encouraging Tech Journalists when they do actual journalism, so I answered each and every query with easy-to-quote responses.

But, it would appear that the answers they received were not conducive to creating the hit-piece they were hoping for — my guess is they realized their questions made them look like the villain in the story. The villain they, clearly, hoped to portray me as.

They opted to not publish the piece.

So I’m publishing their hit-piece for them.

Below is every question — and every answer (with no edits) — which I was asked, on September 19th, by a Tech Journalist by the name of Christine Hall, writing for FossForce.

Fair warning: This is very, very politically charged.

Enjoy.


September 19th

Hall:

The last time I mentioned you in an article, you castigated me for not reaching out to you beforehand. Well, I’m reaching out now. We’ll see what comes of this.

You do recognize that the vast majority of organizations using the term antifa as a descriptor are not in the least bit terrorist and pose no threat to society -- and indeed, the only threats they might pose to fascist groups are not physical or life-harming?

Lunduke:

Hello Christine! Nice to hear from you!

Many, if not most, of those proclaiming support for Antifa (within Open Source) have also made statements encouraging or supporting violence and discrimination.

Regardless of that fact -- which I have documented extensively in Lunduke Journal coverage -- when violent acts are committed (such as murder, riots, and lynchings) in the name of “Antifa”, to turn around and immediately declare yourself to be “Antifa” is a clear declaration of support of that violence.

Hall:

And why did you feel it necessary to call out Danielle Foré’s [the founder of the elementary OS Linux Distribution] trans status in such an ugly manner?

Lunduke:

There is a noteworthy overlap between “Trans activism” and support for political violence -- including in the recent murder of Charlie Kirk (the murderer’s boyfriend was “Trans”).

In the case of Daniel Fore, he, a leader of an Open Source project, regularly calls for discrimination (and violence) against people he disagrees with -- often in conjunction with his self-declaration as “Trans”.

Thus, his declaration of being “Trans” becomes a part of the overall story.

It is worth noting here that The Lunduke Journal has never -- and would never -- call for discrimination or violence against someone because of how they identify or who they may (or may not) vote for.

This is in stark contrast those, such as Mr. Fore, who consider themselves “Trans” or “Antifa” -- who actively advocate for both discrimination and violence.

Hall:

Mentioning a person’s trans status in ways that are pertinent to your argument necessates rudeness such as calling her a “dude who likes to wear dresses”?

Lunduke:

Dan Fore is, in fact, a dude who likes to wear dresses.

The only reason to view that as a negative is if you view dudes wearing dresses as a negative.

Hall:

I’ll quote you on that, which I’m pretty sure won’t bother you in the least.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Quote anything I say here. In fact, I suggest quoting absolutely everything I’ve written to you here, today.

Hall:

You also understand, don’t you, that voicing disagreement with an assessment made by POTUS is not only legal but a healthy part of the national dialog.

Lunduke:

Absolutely! Did I say somewhere that it was illegal to disagree with a politician? It seems unlikely that I have ever said that.

Hall:

Also, how would you reply to this:

There have been very few murders linked to individuals associated with Antifa, some incidents of rioting attributed to Antifa supporters, and no credible evidence of lynchings conducted in the name of Antifa. Compared to far-right groups, violence attributed to Antifa is much less frequent and lethal, with only one suspected kill—Aaron Danielson in Portland, by an anti-fascist activist—officially confirmed in recent U.S. history.

Lunduke:

Murder is bad. I am opposed to all murder.

In the context of these discussions, bearing in mind the Kirk murder is important (as many statements were made in response to it). The murderer of Kirk appears to have been pro-Trans and pro-Antifa (based on all available information).

Hall:

Is there any evidence that the suspect was part of an antifa group? I haven’t seen any.

Lunduke:

I have seen some reporting to this effect (including statements from family and messages he wrote).

But, far more important to this story, is the response to the murder among Antifa supporters (including those within Open Source). A large portion of Antifa supporters have celebrated the murder as justified because it killed someone they considered to be a “fascist”.

Hall:

Also, no group should be held responsible for what some deranged person who identifies with the group has done.

Lunduke:

I agree that a broader group should not be held responsible for the actions of a small number of individuals.

However, and this is critically important, it is entirely appropriate to hold people responsible for their own statements and actions.

With that in mind: The overall messaging of Antifa (and Antifa supporters) tends heavily towards violence. Punching, killing, molotov cocktails, etc. are all common messaging used by Antifa (including by those I quote within the Open Source world -- many of whom have advocated violence against myself).

Advocating for violence, then celebrating when violence is committed, are not good things.

Yet we see a great deal of that among Open Source supporters of Antifa.

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Sale ends in a few hours, Lifetime Subs set up.

Holy moly, you guys are amazing.

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To everyone who grabbed a Lifetime Subscription over the last few days: All of you are set to full Lifetime access. You should have a confirmation email in your inbox. If not, email me and I’ll make sure you’re setup properly.

That “50% off” sale ends tonight at midnight. So you have a few hours to snag a discounted subscription, if you haven’t already.

A huge thank you to everyone who supports this work. Couldn’t do it without you.

-Lunduke

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50% Off Lunduke Journal Extended Through Monday (Oct 13th)

Just a quick heads up:

The “50% off every kind of Subscription to The Lunduke Journal” sale has been extended through Monday (October 13th).

So. You know. Grab one at 50% off between now and end of the day on Monday.

To all of you amazing nerds who have picked up a Lifetime Subscription already this weekend: You are awesome. You’ll be receiving a confirmation email, with all of the Lifetime Subscription details, by tomorrow (if you haven’t already).

Oh, and remember how we hit 11 Million views last month? Yeah. We’re well on our way to blowing past those numbers in October.

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See you all on Monday!

-Lunduke

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