It’s not that Linux’s core developers are “old.” After all, Linus Torvalds, Mr. Linux himself, is only 42. But for a few years now, the core Linux kernel developers have been aware that the top programmers have been getting older.
This isn’t just an impression. While as Amanda McPherson, The Linux Foundation‘s VP of marketing and developer programs, told me that “participation in Linux is greater than ever before” and that “more than 8,000 people had contributed to the Linux kernel since 2005,” a closer look at the Linux developer numbers reveals that the older generations of Linux programmers are fading away.