Re: [ck] Re: Linus 2.6.23-rc1 -- It does not matter who's code gets merged!

On 8/1/07, Arjan van de Ven <arjan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Let me repeat the key message:

It does not matter who's code gets merged.
It does not matter who's code gets merged.
It does not matter who's code gets merged.
It does not matter who's code gets merged.

What matters is that the problem gets solved and that the Linux kernel
innovates forward.

And, from a standpoint of ONGOING, long-term innovation: what matters
is that brilliant, new ideas get rewarded one way or another. Because
if you don't, the people with the 'different' ideas walk away, you end
up with only those who 'fit' the culture, and there goes innovation.

That's why I tried to get involved in this discussion. It doesn't
matter who's code gets merged. But it does matter that people get
scared away. It took the kernel folks a few years, but they managed to
get someone kicked out who's not 'in-crowd', who clearly has a
different view, and who has the intent and motivation to write and
maintain code.

And that's bad.

I've quoted this before: Reward Brilliant Failures, Punish Mediocre Successes.

Of course that's 'overdone', but it conveys a point: If you focus too
much on exploiting current code, instead of fundamentally exploring
new ideas you go down in the long run. There has to be a balance. And
in some area's of the kernel, there seems to be a good balance - new
ideas come in, code is being re-factored. But in scheduling and VM, I
wonder if there's enough exploration...

I hear 'We don't do politics' a lot in the kernel community.

Well, what are politics? Managing the way code gets into the kernel?
That's important for sure, right? And what about thinking about the
hacker culture? Nobody would object to preserving and securing that.
But those are not just technical matters. Yet they require thought. If
the kernel culture doesn't work, the code won't work. There is a
delicate balance, and a key part of what Linus has been doing is
preserving it. I think he must not ignore that there is always room
for improvement, and moments like these (where a big 'fight' is going
on, and there is a clear sense of urgency about the matter) are the
perfect times for a good discussion, and possible change.

Use it.


Love,

Jos



* Disclaimer:
- I'm no kernel hacker
- actually I help at the KDE project in the area of marketing...
- yet, i have followed Con and his stuff for years
- and I do research in the area of promoting innovation in
organisations at a Dutch research institute, which is why I so
annoyingly think I might have something to say.
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/

Relevant Pages

  • Re: linux USB question
    ... The only rules that really matter are these: What a man CAN do, and what a man CAN'T do! ... I know it>>>>> picks up USB and mem sticks. ... >>>>> has been resolved with the new kernel. ... I spent hours of reading trying to get my flash drive working>>>> and then out of frustration I formatted it vfat in linux and it's ...
    (alt.linux)
  • Re: RFC: [2.6 patch] disallow modular IPv6
    ... It would be difficult to have an opinion on the matter without agreeing ... > way to make a particular device driver appear. ... and then letting that force a change in the base kernel ... send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in ...
    (Linux-Kernel)
  • Re: [SLE] Repository for kernel 2.6.17?
    ... not run on a non-SMP machine. ... Not a matter of different performance. ... always try the non-smp version of the kernel if there is any problem. ... think this is becoming less and less a troubleshooting step. ...
    (SuSE)
  • Re: [Fwd: What do people think about not installing a stripped,/kernel ?]
    ... A debug kernel by default ... > would just be the beginning of a systematic waste. ... > way poeple think (size doesn't matter, price doesn't matter) it's the ...
    (freebsd-current)
  • we assert them, then we frantically sing Quincy and Azizs sound running
    ... Gawd, I'll exceed the balance. ... A lot of crucial protective drafts will well matter the achievements. ... fill from the quaint wests, but don't confess the dying regulations. ...
    (sci.crypt)