Linux Foundation’s own annual report shows only 2.95% of its budget goes to Linux, with the rest funding cloud, AI, and blockchain projects.
Key Takeaways
LF allocates ~$8M (~3%) to the Linux kernel; the bulk funds a sprawling portfolio of unrelated or tangentially related projects.
Linus Torvalds is no longer in the top 10 of LF compensation; highest-paid staff reportedly don’t use Linux.
The organization’s branding as a Linux steward is undercut by spending on blockchain (~4%) and broad “open”/“cloud”/“AI” initiatives.
The source characterizes this as openwashing: mission creep where the Linux name lends credibility to unrelated tech governance.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters largely pushed back on the framing: the ~$181M “project support” bucket funds NodeJS, PyTorch, Kubernetes, vLLM, Containerd, KiCAD, and dozens of other projects, most of which run on or depend on Linux.
The real question raised is what share goes to open source at all versus overhead or blockchain – corporate ops overhead was cited as ~5%, but blockchain spend at 4% exceeded Linux kernel spend and drew sharp criticism.
There is no consensus that the name is misleading; several argued the title should read “97% doesn’t go to the Linux kernel,” since the Foundation hosts a much broader ecosystem.
Notable Comments
@tdeck: flags executive compensation as “pretty shocking” and links ProPublica nonprofit filings for verification.
@countWSS: questions what the $181M “Project Support” line actually covers, noting Linux is budgeted separately, making the category opaque.