The Linux Foundation, earlier today, released their 2024 Annual Report. And, hoo boy, is it a doozy.
The short-short version: Massive increase in revenue (now close to $300 Million Dollars), with spending on Linux continuing to drop to historically low numbers.
And, in a dramatic departure from previous years, almost zero discussion of politically charged topics (such as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Climate Change).
Let's start with the numbers.
Skyrocketing Revenue
First and foremost, it's worth pointing out that -- as of this year -- revenue for The Linux Foundation is closing in on 1/3rd of a Billion Dollars annually.
While The Linux Foundation may technically be a "non profit", those numbers would make many "for profit" corporations blush. Massive, steady income growth.
Where does the largest bulk of that revenue come from? Corporate "membership" dues, naturally. To the tune of over $125 Million USD.
With the highest paying corporate members being the likes of Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Samsun, Red Hat (IBM), Huawei, and the like.
These corporations pay a premium to have a seat on The Linux Foundation Board of Directors. Which, it should be pointed out, consists of over 70% GPL violators.
Spending on Linux
One of the peculiar facts about The Linux Foundation is how surprisingly little of their income they spend on... Linux.
And, perhaps even more peculiar still, is the fact that the percentage of their revenue spent on Linux appears to decrease every year.
In 2021, The Linux Foundation spent roughly 3.4% of their revenue on their namesake project. As of 2024... that number appears to be down to 2.3%.
And this isn't simply a matter of overall percentages going down (while revenue rises). Spending on the Linux Kernel is down, year on year, in terms of actual US Dollars as well.
In fact, the amount currently spent on "Corporate Operations" for The Linux Foundation... is roughly 3 times that of what is spent on the Linux kernel.
As time goes on -- and spending numbers become finalized -- we are gaining an increasingly clear picture of the spending priorities of The Linux Foundation.
No Diversity in 2024?
In the previous annual report (2023), "Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion" were a critical component.
In the 2023 report:
- "Diversity" was mentioned 34 times
- "Inclusion" 17 times.
- With the general "DEI" topic -- including "LGBTQ" issues -- being a critical component throughout the report. Page after page of DEI.
This year, in the 2024 report, the words "Diversity", "Equity", and "Inclusion" are never used. Not once.
Well. Once. Barely. On the second to the last page, in a footnote, you find the following statement: "75% of [travel] funding went to diverse community members." That, right there is the sum total of discussion around "diversity".
In fact, the "LGBT" acronym is also never used in the most recent report (another significant change from previous years).
This appears to mark a dramatic shift, away from "DEI", for The Linux Foundation. At least in terms of messaging.
No Climate Change, Either?
The 2024 Linux Foundation annual report also contains absolutely no reference to "Climate Change".
"Wait, why would the Linux Foundation be talking about Climate Change," you ask?
Well. Last year, in 2023, the annual report was filled to the brim with Climate Change -- with 37 distinct references and over 10 pages focused on the topic.
That focus appears to no longer be a priority for The Linux Foundation.
The Right to Fork
One of the most prominent new topics of the 2024 report was "the right to fork". Something previous annual reports stayed clear of almost entirely.
“The right to fork open source code is at the core of open source licensing. All open source licenses grant the right to fork their code, that is to start a new development effort using an existing code as its base. Thus, code forking represents the single greatest tool available for guaranteeing sustainability in open source software.
In addition to bolstering program sustainability, code forking directly affects the governance of open source initiatives. Forking, and even the mere possibility of forking code, affects the governance and sustainability of open source initiatives on three distinct levels: software, community, and ecosystem.”
This is particularly interesting, given the stated intention for Russia to hard-fork Linux over the recent ban of Russian programmers from being official kernel maintainers.
Other Oddities
A few other facts which are worth noting from the 2024 Annual Report:
- Neither the Executive Director, nor the Board Chair -- in their several pages long opening messages -- mentions the Linux Kernel. Nor desktop, server, or mobile Linux. Strange, right?
- The 2024 Annual Report is only 45 pages long. Compared to the 2023 report, which clocks in at 160 pages.
- There is absolutely no mention of the mass banning of Russian developers during 2024.
- Nor of the various other developers banned from the Linux Kernel this year.
What does all of this mean? Will the decreasing spending on Linux continue into 2025? Will the decreased emphasis on messaging around "DEI" issues translate to real-world changes? Will the "right to fork" emphasis continue if Russia follows through with their proposed Linux kernel fork?
Lots of questions. Lots and lots of them.
