[newnewpdro]

> Linux has a giant user base, a giant installation base, and a giant pool of talented devs willing to take on unpaid work.

Linux didn't always have a giant user base, and it wouldn't have gotten there without strong leadership having a sense of pride and responsibility.

[underwater]

"I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things)."

[jolmg]

I'm curious if anyone knows how it really has developed. Has anyone documented the history? Do I understand correctly that right now it's a hierarchy with Linus at the top and levels of "Lieutenants" managing increasingly more detailed levels of subsystems. How was development organized before? Are the developers that are paid mostly on the top or the bottom of the hierarchy? Are the proportions of paid developers very distributed among different companies or does a major portion of them belong to one company?