Linux Kernel Is Worth $1.3 Billion

Researcher at the University of Oviedo in Spain estimate that the current Linux kernel is worth more than $1.3 billion.

Using the Constructive Cost Model 81 algorithm, Jesús García-García and Isabel Alonso d Magdaleno said that it would take 1,000 developers, making $41,700 a year, approximately 14 years to to recreate the Linux kernel.

According to a ComputerWorldUK story, the researchers were not trying to determine the actual value of the kernel, but "to give policymakers a greater appreciation of the potential benefits of community-based collaboration."

The research is available here.

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