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See "the platform problem": https://lwn.net/Articles/443531/ https://lwn.net/Articles/443531/ tl;dr ABIs are an implementation detail, what people want are sta
by Qwertious 10y ago
See "the platform problem": https://lwn.net/Articles/443531/ https://lwn.net/Articles/443531/
tl;dr ABIs are an implementation detail, what people want are stable drivers. And if Linux did provide a stable ABI, then people would create midlayers, which silos everyone and encourages them to improve their midlayers instead of improving the base, and the improved base is what makes Linux so good in the first place. Using the base is necessary for community interaction.
- Asooka 10y agoBut maybe if we let people write midlayers, in time those would converge to the best midlayer design, then they would coalesce to a single library since the midlayer is not the product and open sourcing your dependecies is good business, and finally it can enter upstream.
- monocasa 10y ago> in time those would converge to the best midlayer design What makes you think that?
- eropple 10y agoI understand the concern--but, fundamentally, the problem here is that Linux isn't big enough on the desktop, and won't be big enough on the desktop, to dictate terms in the way that the "community interaction" folks want to. You compromise when you're the little guy, or you lose. (And I don't think the Linux maintainers really care about the desktop all that much, so I understand the decision and it's totally okay in my book. That's why I went back to a Mac and Windows on the desktop. Different tools for different jobs.)