Linus Torvalds rejects performance fix "hack" & kconfig "terrible things" for Linux 7.1
Posted by somerandomxander@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 52 comments
haro0828@reddit
The fact he still reviews these patches so diligently is nothing short of amazing
Organic-Scratch109@reddit
He is 56 y.o. Most people that age that still very productive. Especially, if they led a healthy life.
crystalchuck@reddit
Well he's been plodding on for decades now, following the kernel through all the way from hobbyist project to being used in several major enterprise and consumer operating systems, in the face of several big shifts in computing, corporate participation and interests. He's done project management, reviewing, maintaining, technical debates, and he's even displayed quite a bit of personal growth during all that time. And he seems to do most of all that consistently, diligently, and with technical skill. Many many people would have dropped out or fucked it up long ago. The man is a living legend and one of the greatest gifts to computing ever.
1esproc@reddit
...several?
Organic-Scratch109@reddit
I do not disagree. What he did and what he is still doing is impressive and his consistency makes him a role model to all engineers/leaders/foss maintainers.
However, there are many people who maintain a such productive life for decades. Including engineers at companies, academics, heck, even writers and artists. In my experience, it has to do with lifestyle and personality more than anything.
I have seen an interview he did (on TFIR IIRC), where he mentioned the six-week cycle and the two week merge window and how they kept it most of the time. That's insane, I have never seen any other project sticking to a schedule this tightly every. I bet this made it easy to make small progresses and lessened the stress associated with the project.
dualboot@reddit
Yes, we call it Autism. Lots of us have it and plod away honing our ability to do what we're good at for decades on end.
RealSharpNinja@reddit
An argument can be made that 50s is a person's mental peak.
Topinio@reddit
As a fifty-something, I have to disagree.
orlock@reddit
It kind of depends on the subject. Mathematics, no. Philosophy, quite likely yes. Socially either absolutely yes or absolutely no, depending on the last 40 years.
As a sixty-something I can feel things slipping a bit but I'm still trucking on.
stradicat@reddit
if only HR was aware of that, instead of only hiring 20-something vibecoders
ComeSwirlWithMe@reddit
It's crazy to think he created this when he was not much older than me.. and gave the world so much for free.. and I'm still trying to take naps on my lunch break at work.
Originzzzzzzz@reddit
Managing the project is hardly physically demanding I guess beyond the mental toll
Top-Rub-4670@reddit
Living an unhealthy life will destroy your cognitive abilities. You won't realize it in your 20s, but by your late 30s you'll see yourself go downhill FAST.
So yes, him having a healthy lifestyle was worth mentioning, regardless of the physical efforts required to review patches.
NeuroXc@reddit
It's not so much about productivity, it's about burnout. I think an average person would get tired of it and seek to pass the project on so they can retire and enjoy other parts of life. Fortunately, I think Linus feeds on it, like a bad-code vampire.
Michaeli_Starky@reddit
Once a perfectionist is always a perfectionist
FlukyS@reddit
He kind of still reviews everything at least in part, he trusts the main maintainers for sure but especially if there is a discussion about it he will chime in
Cube00@reddit
We're so fucked when he retires.
cAtloVeR9998@reddit
He has stepped aside before. There are other competent maintainers capable of taking his place.
Cube00@reddit
It's not competence I'm worried about, he is a special position being the founder in that what he says goes, nobody else will have that power of the project will need to keep the committee happy to remain elected which means doing the popular thing, not the right one.
Hypfer@reddit
Honestly, I am wondering if Linux would/should really continue to be the institution it has become today, or if a post-Linus world (hopefully a far-far-far away thing for now) wouldn't be better off with something new entirely.
There is no law stating that Linux is the one final operating system Kernel. Maybe we'd see something new with a new founder.
Because why not? After all, there were also other Unixes around when Linus built Linux, so its origin story itself shows how it might eventually be superseded.
It is frankly a miracle that Linux has been going on for so long and became the behemoth that it is, but also, it has been "just" 34 years.
That is a very long time, but it is also absolutely nothing. History has had countless large entities lasting for timescales like that that eventually vanished because something else came along.
DerekB52@reddit
I am having a hard time imagining how Linux could be superseded. The world is run by Linux servers. If you try to supersede Linux, you need to have people port their stuff, and adopt the new tech, or you need to add in compatibility for existing software.
I also think that Linux being FOSS means it doesn't need to be replaced. A new organization can pop up, with a Linux fork. Maybe at some point new blood and a new foundation to run Linux will be required. But, I'm almost 30, and I can't see Linux just disappearing in my lifetime.
TheReservedList@reddit
That's throwing away literally billions of man-hours though. Could it happen? Sure. Would Windows lap up everything? Probably.
mkosmo@reddit
Tons of man-hours were tossed away when Unix lost the mainstream, too.
Falling victim to sunken cost fallacy isn't the best thing for humanity.
Mike401k@reddit
At this point it would be better for a company to fork the kernel which to my understanding is allowed and build out a new OS on top of it.
Similar to Unix -> Mac OS
Would this ultimately be a good idea? No not really. Windows and Mac Os have dominance and Linux is only just rising. A new proprietary OS would surely fail
TheReservedList@reddit
That's like saying it's crazy that someone supplanted the Wright Company as the mainstream airplane provider.
The world is vastly, vastly different now. The size, complexity, and just sheer amount of hardware the thing is running on is unparalleled.
Anything that could possibly replace Linux would rely entirely on its userspace ecosystem, and thus, would almost assuredly look... Exactly like Linux.
Informal_Drawing@reddit
The wonders of a benign dictator who happens to be an expert.
hy2cone@reddit
There isn’t any problem with dictatorships being an creator of something
Mike401k@reddit
Last i checked this is a fully open source OS that anyone can fork and tweak.
Your definition of a dictator doesn’t really “compute” here
Originzzzzzzz@reddit
He's the guy who started it who else is gonna understand it like he did? It's like when the progenitor of a religion dies, the true understanding dies with it and all you're left with is an empty cult. Though I suppose the kernel and all that is more tangible and more things depend on it. But things get twisted and corrupted
Klutzy-Residen@reddit
Would be interesting to see the results of training a model on his email history and git commits.
Other_Fly_4408@reddit
How would it be interesting?
Informal_Drawing@reddit
I'd assume by now that he has a fair number of people that he has worked with over the years that he trusts.
Plus his handover notes will probably be epic!
Originzzzzzzz@reddit
Probably would be full of a lot of terse words lmao
AWonderingWizard@reddit
This is the biggest point to worry about
KKevus@reddit
Does anyone know what happens when they step aside as well? How do they make sure they keep having a competent lead?
VegetarianZombie74@reddit
There is finally a succession plan. You can read about it here:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-community-project-continuity-plan-for-replacing-linus-torvalds/
tnoy@reddit
That's not really much of a succession plan, it boils down to "We'll find a new maintainer."
I can see it getting messy. It would funny if the advisory board just ends up putting it in the hands of Google given they have the strongest representation in the advisory board.
Takardo@reddit
the person from tokyo saying lock them in a room and let out a puff of white smoke when we they decide on a new one is hilarious.
jokes aside, to me idk how there isn't already something set in stone which is the scary part to me because i have faith that linus wouldn't let something happen that he doesn't want to happen. if that makes any sense but who knows
tnoy@reddit
The file in the Linux repo that describes what will happen is conclave.rst, so they're somewhat leaning into that joke.
Catenane@reddit
They've been the absolute worst steward of open source projects I can think of. I'd switch everything over to freebsd if they were inept enough to do that. Gross lol.
diplofocus_@reddit
Oh god, don't scare me like that. Given it's recent shenanigans with Android, I'm not convinced they wouldn't try pulling something similar here too.
Cylian91460@reddit
Tldr: the performance fix actually expose a issue with how the system was written to userspace, he need to think more about it before pulling it (and it isn't rejected unlike title says)
And he say that the Kconfig is complicated enough for normal user and isn't a dev playground, using sysctl or kernel line option
Sorry-Committee2069@reddit
yeah Kconfig is usually for people who know exactly what they're doing, and not every random person using Linux. /sys is probably easiest to understand (though I wish they'd restructure it eventually...)
DeVinke_@reddit
Restructuring sysfs would break userspace. We don't do that around here.
littypika@reddit
Linus Torvalds is a legend.
The day he leaves the Linux community is the day I worry the quality and direction of Linux potentially changes for the worse.
But let's just enjoy these good days while he's still here.
Leliana403@reddit
Greg KH has it covered.
ibevol@reddit
He’s older than Linus though
Leliana403@reddit
It's cute that you think Linus and Greg aren't immortal.
syncopegress@reddit
r/LeftTheBurnerOn
Ok-Winner-6589@reddit
The succesor to the Big penguin is an older one? Damn
StatementOwn4896@reddit
Did he fucking stutter??
JollyQuiscalus@reddit
And get yelled at by you.
:)