Google and the Linux Foundation have announced plans to fund two full-time maintainers to exclusively focus on Linux kernel security development. Gustavo Silva and Nathan Chancellor, both active Linux contributors, will work to strengthen kernel security and associated projects.
Their goal is to make the pervasive operating system more sustainable as research indicates a need to improve open source software security, specifically in Linux. A report from the Linux Foundation’s Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) and the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard University (LISH) found a lack of security efforts in open source software.
It’s worth noting Linux has more than 20,000 contributors and 1 million commits as of August 2020. But while there are thousands of Linux developers, Google’s contribution to underwrite two full-time Linux security maintainers…