On kernel mailing list behavior [LWN.net]

On kernel mailing list behavior

Posted Jul 17, 2013 18:44 UTC (Wed) by GhePeU (subscriber, #56133)
In reply to: On kernel mailing list behavior by mikov
Parent article: On kernel mailing list behavior

I have seen a lot of supposedly working systems and organizations collapse suddenly because they had been broken for a long time but nobody wanted to notice the issues until it was too late.

Not saying that this is the case, but there are a lot of assumptions behind "if it ain't broken."

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On kernel mailing list behavior

Posted Jul 18, 2013 10:45 UTC (Thu) by simosx (guest, #24338) [Link]

The Linux kernel is being used in almost every device, so at the moment any affected people will sadly be collateral damage, and new people will appear to take their place. This is wrong.

Firstly, because the Linux kernel development sets the tone for other free software projects. And in other free software projects they are struggling to get contributors. And because they are struggling, those that manage to somewhat make it, are those that respect their contributors.

Secondly, the current brutal attitude forces to have hierarchies. And if for some reason those on the top go away, then there will be no technically mature replacements. If you look back in history and the empires, there was a successful emperor/leader that would conquer the world, and then chaos because no good replacement was there to lead for the next generation.