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I disagree strongly with his personal 'no BS' attacks. For some people, it's a huge deterrent to make contributions. I've participated in a number of open sour

by TomVDB 8y ago

I disagree strongly with his personal 'no BS' attacks. For some people, it's a huge deterrent to make contributions. I've participated in a number of open source projects. I like to think that I've made useful suggestions and contributions, in addition to making dumb ones. When I make a dumb suggestion, I expect to corrected in a respectful way. There have been cases where a project maintainer answered in an aggressive, passive aggressive or belittling way. These kind of reactions stress me out, make me lose a night of sleep etc. I can handle a rejection on sound arguments, but I don't handle stress and confrontation well at all. I wish it were different, but that's just not the way I am. They are sufficient to make me stop contributing to and leave a project. A public rebuke by somebody like Linus is my worst nightmare, and I would never consider working on the Linux kernel because of them. I image there are many more technically capable potential contributors out there who have the same reaction.

ci5er 8y ago
That makes sense. I also hate personal confrontation. In the past, I have even had my own sub-ordinates (I hate that word - but they were the engineers that reported to me) confront me, leaving me, from time-to-time to go home and vomit and not sleep. So - yes - I understand. I've never looked at a rebuke from Linus in the same way. I don't know why. I guess I'll go think about that... EDIT: After (very) short reflection, I think (for me) the difference is whether it is a close personal person rebuking me, vs. some sort of distant character....
- TomVDB 8y ago
  A distance character with the stature of Linus rebuking in public would make it so much worse for me. I'd be terrible at being a celebrity.
  - ci5er 8y ago
    > I'd be terrible at being a celebrity. You and me both.
- Bendingo 8y ago
  > the difference is whether it is a close personal person rebuking me, vs. some sort of distant character Yes, this is an important distinction. Being verballed by a stranger (even a famous one like Linus) might be embarrassing, but it wouldn't hurt like being rebuked by some who actually knows me.

by TomVDB 8y ago

ci5er 8y ago

That makes sense. I also hate personal confrontation. In the past, I have even had my own sub-ordinates (I hate that word - but they were the engineers that reported to me) confront me, leaving me, from time-to-time to go home and vomit and not sleep. So - yes - I understand. I've never looked at a rebuke from Linus in the same way. I don't know why. I guess I'll go think about that... EDIT: After (very) short reflection, I think (for me) the difference is whether it is a close personal person rebuking me, vs. some sort of distant character....

TomVDB 8y ago
A distance character with the stature of Linus rebuking in public would make it so much worse for me. I'd be terrible at being a celebrity.
- ci5er 8y ago
  > I'd be terrible at being a celebrity. You and me both.
Bendingo 8y ago
> the difference is whether it is a close personal person rebuking me, vs. some sort of distant character Yes, this is an important distinction. Being verballed by a stranger (even a famous one like Linus) might be embarrassing, but it wouldn't hurt like being rebuked by some who actually knows me.