How is this possible? I don't think you quite understand what "Linux" is.
There is no corporation, board, or CEO to force unwanted changes. Pretty much every piece of the operating system is free and open source.
If you don't like your "Linux", you can swap it out for another distribution or "distro".
I fail to see your point. Kernel development by the aforementioned big players benefits everyone and is all done in the open. Hence, "open source". In fact they use a public mailing list to submit patches.
All of the patches are auditable. If I don't want a patch, I can *trivially* omit it from my kernel before compiling.
How exactly are open source kernel modules and drivers affecting my freedom?
Not bingo. The kernel doesn't provide antifeatures such as ChatGPT and ads on your start menu.
That would be your desktop environment... Which is also typically open source on Linux.
If KDE (desktop environment) developers decide to add ChatGPT or Claude integration, I can simply uninstall it and install a different DE.
thanks for the clarification on how the kernel development works. do you mind expanding on what is the benefit for companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Red Hat, Meta, Oracle, SUSE, Canonical, Amazon, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcom, Samsumg, Broadcom, Cisco, arm to spend an enormous amount of capital, both employing individuals to work full time on the kernel and making donations to cncf/linux foundation? Certainly all of the big players behind linux have our best interest in mind and certainly NONE of this companies have some history of making decisions in detriment of consumer agency and freedom. I would love to hear more about how linux is driven by passion and generosity if you don`t mind, please share!