10.20.07
Novell Still Behind Red Hat and IBM in Terms of Linux Contributions
Patches are clearly an unscientific way to quantify overall contribution, but if changesets were anything to go by, then Novell’s Justin Steinman should hold his tongue the next time he intends to spit out anti-Red Hat messages. In the mailing lists, Greg KH (of Novell) talks about the contributions made to the Linux kernel. Novell’s position seems to be quite respectable, but given the size of Novell as a Linux-oriented company, one might expect them to be positioned higher up the ladder.
According to Greg’s email, organizations that contributed more than 100 changesets to the recently released 2.6.23 kernel included: Red Hat with 827 changesets (11.7%), IBM with 557 changesets (7.9%), the Linux Foundation with 528 changesets (7.5%), Novell with 449 changesets (6.3%), Intel with 242 changesets (3.4%), Oracle with 158 changesets (2.2%), MIPS Technologies with 143 changesets (2%), Nokia with 133 changesets (1.9%), and NetApp with 119 changesets (1.7%).
SCO is conspicously missing. Didn’t they say that Linux stole their code? [sarcasm /]
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.