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Should I just stop attempting to make these trivial patches? (2004)
- inetknght 8y agoLinus being kind? This is contrary to what seems like public opinion. Good to show this here, I think.
- lallysingh 8y agoIndeed, and that he's embodying the community spirit of open source so well.
- rdiddly 8y agoSame thought. He's not being a git at all! ;)
- philjohn 8y agoHe's mellowing in his old age ;)
- Applejacker 8y agoDate Mon, 20 Dec 2004
- EliRivers 8y agoThat was 14 years ago. Maybe he used to be mellow and he's harshening in his old age :)
- andmarios 8y agoI believe kind is his default state. It's just that the few times he deviate from this, end up making the news...
- ballooney 8y ago[I appreciate you probably realise this:] Selection bias - you only see one news-aggregator-site linus rant every 3-4 months and not the other 1347 normal coder and leader emails in between that allow him to maintain the most successful bit of open source software in existence.
- inetknght 8y ago:)
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- awakeasleep 8y agoMost (all?) famous people end up being understood as a caricature of themselves. It's like the urge to stereotype, we're limited creatures and try to understand things in simplifications. If you stop to think about it for a minute, it's impossible that one of the most creative, complicated, and successful projects in the planet could be controlled by a simple asshole or troll. There has to be enough good stuff within that leader to overcome the negativity and create the positive result we all rely on every day.
- Walkman 8y agoJust keep reading: "Yes, those trivial patches _are_ a bother. Damn, they are _horrible_." :D
- chris_wot 8y agoIndeed, and he says "keep on doing them" :P
- tomc1985 8y agoEven better, it's Linus being pragmatic. You can tell he hates them but he sees the greater good. As another comment alludes, we end up perceiving the stereotypes in others. Anyone who reads his writing closely should see that his answers are almost always pragmatic and from a "nothing but the best for my baby" perspective, even if they are somewhat abrasive.
- sangnoir 8y agoLinus being gentle to noob doesn't buck the trend, but fits a pattern - Linus only serves his harshest criticism to senior devs who ought to know better.
- derblitzmann 8y ago> Linus being gentle to noob doesn't buck the trend, but fits a pattern - Linus only serves his harshest criticism to senior devs who ought to know better. Very similar to Gordon Ramsey being very nice and gentle to kid chefs, but very demanding to "professional" chefs. As professional as reality TV allows
- packetized 8y agoCould someone kindly add a [2004] tag?
- sctb 8y agoUpdated. Thanks!
- AdmiralAsshat 8y agoPlease add (2004) to the title.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- rcthompson 8y agoThis is one of the rare times that I'm actually happy to point out that if the title is question, the answer is probably no.
- ILikeConemowk 8y agoThe next reply is even better in my opinion. Mostly because the person on the other end did get what Linus was trying to convey and felt quite motivated by it. https://lkml.org/lkml/2004/12/20/256 https://lkml.org/lkml/2004/12/20/256 Super cool exchange.
- RustyRussell 8y agoObv. feel the same way, which is why I started being the trivial patch monkey which Linus refers to. That's long ago been handed over, but I like to think that it did expand the developer base. Not just for Linux, but for FOSS generally.
- vertis 8y agoI think the other side of this is important as well, shoving a patch or a pull request across for something you use and sharing with them that you're fine if they don't merge it. Probably less with the kernel and more with smaller FOSS it is a way of serving your own needs and also giving back. But there has to be an expectation that the maintainer isn't under any obligation to merge or even evaluate it.
- RustyRussell 8y agoAs a maintainer, part of my task is to interface between developers and the code. That generally means responding to submissions somewhat in proportion to the effort the submitter put in. More importantly, I have benefitted so much from senior devs "wasting time" on me, I am obliged to help others now I'm senior.
- anitil 8y agoIt's good to hear these opinions, and I think that its important work. I've come across a couple 'huh, that doesnt seem right' things in the kernel, but always shied away from trying to contribute because I didn't want to waste people's time
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y agoIt looks Jesper Juhl (the person who asked Linux the question) now manages trivial@kernel.org which is the address for the Trivial Patch Monkey. https://kernelnewbies.org/UpstreamMerge/SubmittingPatches https://kernelnewbies.org/UpstreamMerge/SubmittingPatches This is an awesome example of someone being encouraged to participate when they were starting out, and then helping to make it easier for other newcomers to participate.
- ChuckMcM 8y agohttps://www.systutorials.com/linux-kernels/13170/patch-update-credits-entry-and-listings-in-source-files-for-jesper-juhl-linux-2-6-13/ https://www.systutorials.com/linux-kernels/13170/patch-updat...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- vbezhenar 8y agoAnother important thing is having some kind of resource to find work for new developers. E.g. I want to devote my free time improving XXX framework. I'm visiting its website and if I'd find something like "issues for newbies", that would be a great help, because I could just get one issue and start digging.
- chris_wot 8y agoThis is what the LibreOffice project is trying to achieve via EasyHacks. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/EasyHacks https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/EasyHacks We are always trying to get in new developers, and we have a masssive and often confusing codebase. Easy Hacks give newbies a way of getting their feet wet, in a way that actually helps improve the codebase.