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When I was 17, I was super enthusiastic about Linux. I read a bunch of stuff about kernel development. Linus' attitude was very well known and presented as an a
by colah3 11y ago
When I was 17, I was super enthusiastic about Linux. I read a bunch of stuff about kernel development. Linus' attitude was very well known and presented as an amusing thing. Glorified even. I remember reading some of his emails with a great deal of schadenfreude.
Now I'm really glad I never pursued that. I work in a field where all the leading figures are absurdly nice and respectful. Reading Linus' rant makes me appreciate that more.
- blowski 11y agoI think this is the underlying point. It's difficult to imagine that Linus's style of criticising attracts people to the industry, or indeed has any benefits at all. Conversely, it clearly puts off a lot of talented people from getting involved in Linux, and people use his style as justification for their own aggression. Outside of the open source movement, managers using this kind of language would be reprimanded and even fired, as it could make employees feel stressed and suffering from constructive dismissal. There is simply no need for being rude, or any kind of aggression in the workplace, and we should consider open source contributors as being in the workplace. Full stop.
- mbrock 11y ago"Difficult to imagine" isn't evidence; it's just failure of imagination.