Chicago (IL) - The Linux Foundation has published a report which estimates the cost of developing a full-scale Linux operating system such as Fedora 9 from the ground up at about $10.8 billion. The kernel alone would eat up about $1.4 billion, the organization concluded.
This latest report by the Linux Foundation entitled “Estimating the Total Development Cost of a Linux Distribution” is an update of a study originally conducted in 2002 by David Wheeler. Wheeler examined the Software Lines of Code (SLOC) in Red Hat Linux 7.1, and found it would cost more than $1.2 billion to develop Linux by conventional means, compared to the open sourced method behind Linux. The new report is based upon the SLOCCount tool developed by Barry Boehm and COnstructive COst MOdel (COCOMO), which essentially attributes a dollar value to the amount of lines of code in a product.
”This year has seen an incredible proliferation of Linux-powered devices outside of traditional Linux strongholds: Devices powered by the Moblin platform, netbooks like the EeePC, mobile phones like the Gphone, and consumer devices like the Amazon Kindle. Would these products be possible without Linux?” said Amanda McPherson, a co-author of the report.
“I think this points to the power of the collaborative development model. Monopolistic software companies used to be able to fund heavy R&D budgets, keeping out competition. Given the cost associated with building an OS like Linux, one wonders if proprietary companies will ever go it alone again.”
The Linux Foundation estimates that it would take 60,000 person-years to create 204.5 million lines of code in Fedora 9’s 5547 application packages. This would translate into a cost of $10.8 billion, at least if every developer year is valued at a total cost of $180,000. Using the same numbers, the 6.8 million Linux kernel lines are worth about 7500 person-years and about $1.4 billion.
This latest report by the Linux Foundation entitled “Estimating the Total Development Cost of a Linux Distribution” is an update of a study originally conducted in 2002 by David Wheeler. Wheeler examined the Software Lines of Code (SLOC) in Red Hat Linux 7.1, and found it would cost more than $1.2 billion to develop Linux by conventional means, compared to the open sourced method behind Linux. The new report is based upon the SLOCCount tool developed by Barry Boehm and COnstructive COst MOdel (COCOMO), which essentially attributes a dollar value to the amount of lines of code in a product.
”This year has seen an incredible proliferation of Linux-powered devices outside of traditional Linux strongholds: Devices powered by the Moblin platform, netbooks like the EeePC, mobile phones like the Gphone, and consumer devices like the Amazon Kindle. Would these products be possible without Linux?” said Amanda McPherson, a co-author of the report.
“I think this points to the power of the collaborative development model. Monopolistic software companies used to be able to fund heavy R&D budgets, keeping out competition. Given the cost associated with building an OS like Linux, one wonders if proprietary companies will ever go it alone again.”
The Linux Foundation estimates that it would take 60,000 person-years to create 204.5 million lines of code in Fedora 9’s 5547 application packages. This would translate into a cost of $10.8 billion, at least if every developer year is valued at a total cost of $180,000. Using the same numbers, the 6.8 million Linux kernel lines are worth about 7500 person-years and about $1.4 billion.