Linux breaks through the 40 million line mark
The kernel sources continue to grow unabated. Throwing out drivers for leaner code is unlikely to work.
(Image: Erstellt mit KI in Bing Designer durch heise online / dmk)
As of today, the source code of the kernel known as Linux comprises more than 40 million lines for the first time. Its size has thus more than doubled in just under ten years, as it broke through the 20 million line mark in mid-2015.
(Image:Â Screenshot: thl)
A slowdown or even an end to this growth is not in sight, as Linux has been adding an average of four hundred thousand lines of code with each new version of the main development line for several years now. Some criticize this and often postulate ideas to shrink the kernel. In many cases, however, these mainly bring theoretical advantages or even turn out to be counterproductive on closer inspection – such as the idea of outsourcing drivers, which make up more than half of the code.
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Details on this can be found in our "Numbers, please!" published a few days ago.
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