Linux Kernel = $1.4 Billion
ROSE Blog: Rikki's Open Source Exchange
On her blog, Allison Randall discusses the updated Linux Foundation report, written by Amanda McPherson, Brian Proffitt, and Ron Hale-Evans, which estimates that the Linux kernel is currently worth about US$ 1.4 billion, and Fedora 9 is worth more than $10 billion.
Allison briefly explains the formula for the calculation and says, "One important perspective to carry away from this report is the astounding pace of Linux development." She points out that the Fedora distro is worth about 7 times what it was worth 6 years ago.
To read the full report, Estimating the Total Development Cost of a Linux Distribtution, visit: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publications/estimatinglinux.php
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