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Linux Foundation now spends only 2% of their revenue on Linux
Spending on A.I. is roughly 6 times that of Linux.
December 26, 2023
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The Linux Foundation has released their 2023 Annual Report... and it is an absolute doozy.

The first big headline?

As of 2023, The Linux Foundation now spends just 2% -- that's two percent -- of their revenue on their namesake: The Linux Kernel.

That's a mighty small slice of the pie...

Ask yourself this: If there is a foundation named after a specific thing... what percentage of that foundation's revenue would you expect to be spent on said thing?

Let's say... "Save the Orange Trees Foundation".  How much of their revenue should be spent on, you know, orange trees?  100%?  50%?  10%?

If "Save the Orange Trees" only spent 2% on "saving Orange Trees"... would you think that something was amis?  Of course you would.  And you would quickly wonder what non-Orange-Tree related things that foundation is funding.

With that in mind, let's look at Linux Foundaiton funding of Linux... compared to their investments in "Blockchains" and "Artificial Intelligence".

Maybe they should rename themselves to "The A.I. Foundation".

Your eyes do not deceive you. 

  1. Linux : 2%
  2. Blockchain : 4%
  3. A.I. : 12%

The Linux Foundation spends roughly twice as much on Blockchain as they do on Linux... and roughly six times as much on Artificial Intelligence.

And, lest you think this is merely a blip -- and that, surely, Linux support will go up the next year -- recent history would strongly suggest otherwise.  This is a singificant drop from the 2022 numbers.

Weeeee!

I'm sensing a pattern here.

"Now wait a second," you exclaim!  "Just because the revenue percentage spent on Linux is down... that doesn't necessarily mean that the total numbers are down!  The Linux Foundation is growing!  Maybe the total amount spent actually went up while the percentage went down?"

While it's true that The Linux Foundaiton continues to grow substantially -- now bringing in over a quarter of a Billion dollars per year (seriously) -- the total amount spent on the Linux kernel dropped roughly $400,000 in 2023.  (Not surprising as The Lunduke Journal previously pointed out that lowering the total support of Linux appeared to be the goal.)

  • The percentage of The Linux Foundation revenue spent on Linux dropped in 2023.
  • And the total amount spent dropped as well.
  • All while funding of non-Linux projects (such as AI and Blockchain) continued to dominate.

While this is the first big headline to come out of the Linux Foundation 2023 report... there's more to report on -- where The Linux Foundation revenue comes from and where it is spent.

The Lunduke Journal continues to research and dig into the 2023 filings of The Linux Foundaiton.  There's a lot of weirdness in here... and we're going to get to the bottom of it.

Stay tuned.


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Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

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"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

Update on the new job:

Well, I haven’t been around much. This new job has had me so busy I’ve barely had time to do anything other than work and sleep. It’s also the first time I’ve really felt challenged by a job since I first got started in IT about 6 years ago. Truth be told, I had definitely gotten complacent on the help desk and repair side of things and am having to break some bad habits.

Also got sick last week with the flu. The whole family got it. That sucked something terrible. Probably top 3 sicknesses I’ve ever had. Anyway, I’m glad we’re all on the mend and I’m hoping to get some time to do some more tinkering soon. Now it looks like I’ve got about a month and a half’s worth of Lunduke videos to catch up on, lol.

"April May 2, 2017" 🤣🤣🤣 Reminds me of the Look Around You teletext screen showing the date as "Apr 04 Sep"

July 22, 2025
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It’s an “Articles Only” Week at The Lunduke Journal

Instead of the regular shows (audio podcasts & videos), The Lunduke Journal will be publishing only articles for the next week.

I’m traveling this week, and recording shows is a little tricky. But there are some great stories that deserve to be told — so articles it is!

Be sure you’re following The Lunduke Journal on any of the four platforms where articles are published (all are free to follow be alerted to new articles).

-Lunduke

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Are we witnessing the final days of Mozilla?

The DOJ v. Google case — which found that Google has been violating antitrust laws related to its monopoly position in the Search Engine market — is weeks away from ending the remedy phase. Judge Mehta is expected to issue his final decision some time in August (next month).

 

Significantly for Mozilla, one of the most heavily pushed (by the DOJ) remedies would block Google from paying Mozilla for default search engine placement within Firefox. This would, effectively, end over 80% of Mozilla’s yearly revenue… and force the company to dramatically downsize.

During the court trial earlier this year, the Mozilla CFO testified that, should this happen, Mozilla “may be forced to scale back operations”.

 

At the same time as the DOJ v. Google case is moving quickly towards a conclusion, the US government has pulled Mozilla funding — resulting in renewed, desperate pleas from Mozilla, asking for donations to attempt to cover the lost tax payer revenue.

Mozilla appears to have a four pronged approach to securing funding and staying in business:

  1. Fight the DOJ v. Google case (both in court and public opinion).

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  4. Encouraging users to donate.

 

Many questions remain in this saga:

  • Will Judge Mehta tell Google to stop payments for Search Engine placement? We’ll find out very soon.

  • Will Google appeal after the remedies are handed down? (Most likely.)

  • If so, what will the outcome of that appeal be? And how will default Search Engine payments be impacted during the appeal?

  • Will Mozilla see enough success in their new business of being a “global crew of activists” to avoid significant layoffs?

According to multiple sources within Mozilla — who have spoken to The Lunduke Journal on the condition of anonymity — employees have deep concerns about the future of the company, the leadership currently in power, and the stability of their jobs through the end of this year.

Now, Mozilla has several hundred million dollars in cash on hand. Which means, even if they experience the loss of 80%+ of their revenue… they have enough runway to keep them afloat at least for a little while. But burning through savings to keep a company afloat is not a great long term strategy.

What will Mozilla look like this time next year?

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It’s going to be interesting to watch as this unfolds.

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If you haven’t snagged yours yet, the “50% off everything, even the Lifetime Subscriptions” deal is available today and tomorrow (through Saturday, May 31st).

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All the details on how to grab each type of subscription is right here. There’s also an audio podcast and video of me rambling about it.

Once again, thank you for all of the support. It truly does make a difference.

-Lunduke

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