[pabs3]

You would be incorrect, LWN tracks statistics about contributor employers for every Linux kernel release and their latest post about that says that "(None)" (ie unpaid contributions) beat a number of large companies, including RedHat by the lines changed metric, or SUSE by the changesets metric.

https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1046966/f957408bbdd4d388/

[foota]

Well yes, but the vast majority of changes (~95%, by either changes or lines) seem to be from contributors supported by employers.

[pabs3]

Sure, but there is still "someone" contributing unpaid.

[heartsavior]

Definitely individual can start with their own reason. It is questionable whether they can make contributions which scope would be a quarter of the work including design or even larger.