this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Red Hat is the largest funder of the Fedora Projects because it serves as a base for other things they make and support aside from their enterprise distros. Being the largest single funder gets you the most pull on the direction of said projects. They also have Red Hat employees directly running or contributing to various projects and upstream commits.
The actual community boards and such are independent of Red Hat otherwise. Similar to how Valve suddenly has a bunch of pull in the direction of the projects they've been directly funding and contributing to the past few years, Red Hat informs the independent community board with commits and contributions.
This is how the FOSS community works in general though. 'Project A' could be widely used in the community, but generally have fairly slow development. 'Company A' comes in and offers to fund feature development or big hunts, or maybe directly contribute fixes because they rely on this project. That project then either has the choice to turn down that extra help that could greatly benefit the project, or take that help, and as part of that deal, accept that 'Company A' now has some pull in the direction of the project.
Kind of a majority rule via resource commitment.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to add in the main post that I've researched that too. I know about FESCo and I understand what you're saying about it being kind of a counter-weight to Red Hat. But there is a pretty big problem:
Out of 9 current FESCo board members, 6 are Red Hat employees, one of them is an ex-Red Hat employee, which leaves only 2 members that are not affiliated with Red Hat. Now, I understand that there's probably not some big conspiracy there, I assume it's just that their job at RH allows them to work on Fedora a lot more than anyone else, and in turn, they're chosen for the board because their contributions will usually be very noticeable. But at the end of the day, I think there is a conflict of interest there. When faced with a heavy choice, do you stand with your employer who puts food on your table or a community of strangers that doesn't really give you real life benefits?