this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2023
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Nothing. Linus doesn't personally do coding on the kernel, he has a team who do that and he oversees it and makes the hard decisions.
There are others who will take his place and the work will continue.
If somehow the entire kernel team shut down, Google, Samsung or some other large corporation would take it over and continue development because at this point many, many, many servers, phones, smart devices, iot, and other appliances rely on the Linux kernel to function.
It simply cannot be left to die.
Even that is not really the truth. There are dozens and dozens of teams that actually do the development, then there are people who coordinate and maintain certain parts of the kernel, merge in patches and make decisions. And then there's Linus who does coordinate these people.
And most likely Greg K-H will take over the position that Linus has right now. He has been one of the most active maintainers and is probably "the number 2" behind Linus.