Linux is the Largest Software Development Project in History
But if you are not using the latest Linux kernel, your system is insecure.
Greg Kroah-Hartman, a leading Linux kernel developer, delivered a keynote at CoreOS Fest on May 10-11 in Berlin, Germany. Kroah-Hartman shared some impressive numbers about Linux kernel development. He noted that in 2015, more than 440 companies were involved with the kernel and more than 4,000 people contributed to it. The latest release of Linux (4.5) has more than 21 million lines of code. Every single day, more than 10,800 lines of code are added, 5,300 lines of code are removed, and 1,875 lines of code are modified. The current pace of development boils down to more than eight changes per second.
Kroah-Hartman said, “It's the largest software development project ever, in the history of computing – by the number of people using it, developing it, and now using it, and the number of companies involved. It's a huge number of people.” But all of these changes are for a reason: They bring security fixes and introduce new features. Kroah-Hartman urged companies and communities using Linux to keep up with the changes. He praised the updating mechanisms used by projects like ChromeOS and CoreOS that keep the system up-to-date without user intervention.
Kroah-Hartman said that vendors should provide a system for regular updates and encourage users to take advantage of it. He sent a very strong message to computer vendors saying: “… your machine is insecure unless you're running my kernel, or based on my kernel, or based on another [recent] one. If you're not taking these fixes, then it is insecure.”
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.