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Linking it to "PC" or "women" I think sort of undermines it on a larger level. To take part in opensource, especially a big project like Linux you have to be w

Linking it to "PC" or "women" I think sort of undermines it on a larger level. To take part in opensource, especially a big project like Linux you have to be willing to put yourself out there a little bit. You have to put in some work, and then put something out there to possibly (probably?) be crapped on by people you respect. They might love it and merge it, they might hate it and tell you why, they might come back somewhere in the middle with a list of things to change that you may or may not agree with. They might ask you questions you can't answer, they might point things out that make you feel really silly. That element of risk is something many computer people have a hard time with, not just women or minorities. I got involved with the kernel a long while back, sent in a couple smallish things. Then I found what seemed like plutonium, the embedded project I was working on, we were literally spending like 1/3 or our cycles zeroing pages. Did some stuff to use MMX like instructions to do it and got a nice little bump. Turned if off entirely and got a huge bump. I/O took off like a rocket, all sorts of things got noticeably faster; like we were able to double what our project had to do. I had a more senior Linux guy coaching me up on this, a made man in the community, it was late one night when we discovered this so I put together some patches and sent if off to Linus, he was encouraging it. Linus was quiet for about a day and then sent back some pointed observations and was kind of making fun of me. Zeroing newly allocated pages is kind of important, it's a security risk to not do it and it happens for a reason. I felt like a total newb, and Linus had poked fun at me in an email, it didn't feel good. The made guy I was working with sort of picked me up, told me he does that to everybody and that it's good natured ribbing for the most part but before that I had just felt like crap. This guy I respect the hell out of was making fun of my contribution, I got over it pretty easily but I could easily see how others might not. There have been some fairly popular contributors (or maybe not, I don't know..) over the years that have basically managed their own forks with various patches (Con Kolivas' scheduler stuff stands out to me) because for whatever reasons they couldn't or wouldn't get stuff merged or accepted, even though it seemed to be really useful and appealing to a lot of others. In the heat of it all, it can seem really arbitrary too, you put some code together, you know it solves some problems and the community of developers doesn't want it or won't take it. Not sure what caused Linus to recognize it this time but I hope things improve, it's better for everyone.

saltcured 8y ago
I don't know much about Linus's personal background prior to his announcing his project as a student. His communication style always struck me as surprisingly easy to understand and relate to. It reminds me of what used to be a common subculture in tech fields in California, namely the ex-military enlisted men's culture. I have wondered if he somehow had similar early exposure. It's the combination of swearing like a sailor, sarcasm, thick skin, and being prone to hyperbole when talking about any kind of trained skill or procedure. As a child, I learned from my dad (and eventually figured out what he really meant), "There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Navy way" to everything. This culture is indoctrinated when young men go through boot camp, but it also spreads itself when concentrated enough other environments. In boot camp, the yelling, the swearing, the insults, and rigid expectations are used to shock, reset, and motivate. Initiates are bootstrapped into a command hierarchy and also taught trust, duty, and shared responsibility. A lot of this rubs off on the successful graduates. When people with this sort of background mingle, it is easy to fall into this sort of brusque communication. Language may be harsh, colorful, and full of crude imagery, but usually isn't intended to be cruel or hurtful. Those with fluency will take it as quite the opposite... people are signaling trust and fraternal interest. Such insults and jokes are exchanged to strengthen bonds. Ironically, while someone communicating in this mode can easily hurt the feelings of someone not conditioned to understand it, in turn they can feel hurt themselves as they were putting their feelings out there (albeit in a coded form) and having them slapped down and rejected. To a person steeped in this culture, it is frustrating dealing with the subtlety and opacity of "polite" and "diplomatic" society whose practices often seem perverse, passive-aggressive, and insincere. I feel that the tech scene used to be more strongly influenced by these ex-military participants. Some of the older hacker ethos also seemed to mix this with other hippie and subversive attitudes which could somehow tolerate and complement each other. This is disappearing. I would not link the change to political correctness nor women, but to a general dilution of those old norms. More and more participants are coming in as tech becomes mainstream. There is a new wave of youngsters further removed from military experience, in spite of US activities abroad. There are also far more immigrants from many other cultures throughout the world. The only thing less effective than groups of people speaking different languages at each other is when they mistakenly thing they are speaking the same language...
8y ago

saltcured 8y ago

I don't know much about Linus's personal background prior to his announcing his project as a student. His communication style always struck me as surprisingly easy to understand and relate to. It reminds me of what used to be a common subculture in tech fields in California, namely the ex-military enlisted men's culture. I have wondered if he somehow had similar early exposure. It's the combination of swearing like a sailor, sarcasm, thick skin, and being prone to hyperbole when talking about any kind of trained skill or procedure. As a child, I learned from my dad (and eventually figured out what he really meant), "There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Navy way" to everything. This culture is indoctrinated when young men go through boot camp, but it also spreads itself when concentrated enough other environments. In boot camp, the yelling, the swearing, the insults, and rigid expectations are used to shock, reset, and motivate. Initiates are bootstrapped into a command hierarchy and also taught trust, duty, and shared responsibility. A lot of this rubs off on the successful graduates. When people with this sort of background mingle, it is easy to fall into this sort of brusque communication. Language may be harsh, colorful, and full of crude imagery, but usually isn't intended to be cruel or hurtful. Those with fluency will take it as quite the opposite... people are signaling trust and fraternal interest. Such insults and jokes are exchanged to strengthen bonds. Ironically, while someone communicating in this mode can easily hurt the feelings of someone not conditioned to understand it, in turn they can feel hurt themselves as they were putting their feelings out there (albeit in a coded form) and having them slapped down and rejected. To a person steeped in this culture, it is frustrating dealing with the subtlety and opacity of "polite" and "diplomatic" society whose practices often seem perverse, passive-aggressive, and insincere. I feel that the tech scene used to be more strongly influenced by these ex-military participants. Some of the older hacker ethos also seemed to mix this with other hippie and subversive attitudes which could somehow tolerate and complement each other. This is disappearing. I would not link the change to political correctness nor women, but to a general dilution of those old norms. More and more participants are coming in as tech becomes mainstream. There is a new wave of youngsters further removed from military experience, in spite of US activities abroad. There are also far more immigrants from many other cultures throughout the world. The only thing less effective than groups of people speaking different languages at each other is when they mistakenly thing they are speaking the same language...

8y ago