Ethereum is Linux for the Open Internet of Value

The Ethereum network, a decentralized layer-1 blockchain that executes smart contracts, is analogous to the open-source operating system Linux, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. 

Linux and Ethereum are both open source and feature custom-tailored implementations. Linux achieves this through developers building custom modifications of software, while Ethereum does it through its layer-2 (L2) scaling networks, Buterin said.

Linux has provided value to “billions” of individuals, enterprises and state governments “without compromising” on its open source ethos or decentralization, Buterin said, adding: 

“We must make sure that Ethereum L1 works as the financial, and ultimately identity, social, and governance home for individuals and organizations who want a higher level of autonomy, and give them access to the full power of the network without dependence on intermediaries.”

The analogy highlights the Ethereum Foundation’s long-term goals of making Ethereum an operating system for the Internet that allows for distributed computation, transferring value and risk and reaching consensus on on the Internet.

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Ethereum has layer-2s for every flavor, but tension persists

There are 127 layer-2 networks within the Ethereum ecosystem at the time of this writing, according to L2Beat. 

Critics of Ethereum’s layer-2 scaling approach say that there are too many layer-2 networks, competing with Ethereum and cannibalizing the base layer’s revenue, which plummeted following the Dencun upgrade in March 2024.

Proponents of Ethereum’s scaling approach say that the diverse ecosystem of layer-2 networks gives Ethereum users optionality and a better user experience.

The modular scaling strategy potentially allows Ethereum to have many high-throughput chains built on top of the base layer, Anurag Arjun, co-founder of Ethereum L2 Polygon, told Cointelegraph.

“The under-appreciated beauty of this rollup-centric roadmap architecture is that it allows multiple teams to experiment with different execution environments and different block times,” Arjun said. 

However, a torrent of high-throughput chains without true blockchain interoperability will lead to greater ecosystem fragmentation, trapping user liquidity within isolated pools and giving users a worse experience, Arjun told Cointelegraph.

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