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I had to google what Torvalds currently do: ..."What is your job?" Torvalds replied, "I read and write a lot of email. My job really is, in the end, is to say

I had to google what Torvalds currently do: ..."What is your job?" Torvalds replied, "I read and write a lot of email. My job really is, in the end, is to say 'no.' Somebody has to say 'no' to [this patch or that pull request]. And because developers know that if they do something that I'll say 'no' to, they do a better job of writing the code." [1] Do we have any idea what will happen to Linux once Torvalds is not there? Is there any example in history of OSS development as to what happens when BDFL [2] is not there anymore? [1] https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-im-not-a-programmer-anymore/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-im-not-a-progra... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator_for_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator_for_life

Valmar 5y ago
At best, we can just hope that Greg has the same resilience as Linus ~ and that Greg's chosen successor also has the same grit
- thih9 5y ago
  For those unfamiliar, Greg Kroah-Hartman is the maintainer of the Linux stable branch since 2013: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Kroah-Hartman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Kroah-Hartman
  - Havoc 5y ago
    His talks on youtube are also worth a watch. Comes across as very charismatic which I think is a win for *nix
    - tcmart14 5y ago
      Yes they are. The ones I have seen, he is also insanely honest in his assessment of stuff.
garciasn 5y ago
There is no publicly acknowledged succession plan but Linus has previously commented it may take a few months for the community to work out how to move forward but he seems confident they will. It’s just that no one in their right mind would want to do Linus’ job. It’s miserable and stressful; he only does it because he’s been doing it for 30 years and it’s his baby. The outcome will be interesting to be certain.
- leshenka 5y ago
  > There is no publicly acknowledged succession plan Oh that's easy. You bring all maintainers in the one place, disconnect their internet and wait for the white smoke.
foresto 5y ago
> Is there any example in history of OSS development as to what happens when BDFL [2] is not there anymore? The Python BDFL announced his resignation three years ago, so that project might serve as an example. https://lwn.net/Articles/759654/ https://lwn.net/Articles/759654/ I think it will be a while before we see the long term effects of Guido's departure, but I already miss him. The few interactions we had left me feeling that he was good at choosing his yeses and noes appropriately.
tcmart14 5y ago
We can look at projects like FreeBSD and NetBSD. Perhaps Linux kernel development will go to a similar board model?

Valmar 5y ago

At best, we can just hope that Greg has the same resilience as Linus ~ and that Greg's chosen successor also has the same grit

thih9 5y ago
For those unfamiliar, Greg Kroah-Hartman is the maintainer of the Linux stable branch since 2013: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Kroah-Hartman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Kroah-Hartman
- Havoc 5y ago
  His talks on youtube are also worth a watch. Comes across as very charismatic which I think is a win for *nix
  - tcmart14 5y ago
    Yes they are. The ones I have seen, he is also insanely honest in his assessment of stuff.

garciasn 5y ago

There is no publicly acknowledged succession plan but Linus has previously commented it may take a few months for the community to work out how to move forward but he seems confident they will. It’s just that no one in their right mind would want to do Linus’ job. It’s miserable and stressful; he only does it because he’s been doing it for 30 years and it’s his baby. The outcome will be interesting to be certain.

leshenka 5y ago
> There is no publicly acknowledged succession plan Oh that's easy. You bring all maintainers in the one place, disconnect their internet and wait for the white smoke.

foresto 5y ago

> Is there any example in history of OSS development as to what happens when BDFL [2] is not there anymore? The Python BDFL announced his resignation three years ago, so that project might serve as an example. https://lwn.net/Articles/759654/ https://lwn.net/Articles/759654/ I think it will be a while before we see the long term effects of Guido's departure, but I already miss him. The few interactions we had left me feeling that he was good at choosing his yeses and noes appropriately.

tcmart14 5y ago

We can look at projects like FreeBSD and NetBSD. Perhaps Linux kernel development will go to a similar board model?