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Serious question, but what is your expectations for linux and all these libraries/dependencies after 20-40+ years when most of old school or current devs are re

Serious question, but what is your expectations for linux and all these libraries/dependencies after 20-40+ years when most of old school or current devs are retired? How can anyone guarantee reliable continuity by good actors in all these dependencies?

apantel 3y ago
Steve Jobs said that someone needs to be the keeper and maintainer of the vision. I think that’s the key to the making of anything great over the long run: there needs to be a Benevolent Dictator For Life who has the vision, competence, energy, passion, and caring to consistently iterate the thing well. The best case scenario for a project that loses its BDFL(s) is to hold on maybe as decently as Apple has under Tim Cook. They haven’t done anything truly innovative since Jobs died in my opinion — they just figured out more ways to apply the combination of a multitouch display, compact computer, and sensors; but they’ve iterated well on everything they produce and have held on to their lead in terms of hardware, user experience, and ecosystem cohesion. In short: someone very competent has to care a lot about the project for the right reasons, and continue driving it forward. If the old guard is rotating out, someone has to step up. If no one steps up, then leeches of various types will attach themselves to the project and simultaneously milk it for value and kill it.
- mnau 3y ago
  44% of active open source projects have only one maintainer. Out of all maintainers, 60% would describe themselves as unpaid hobbyist. They already are BDFL for themselves or one other person. The problem is a chronic deficiency of maintainers, which is at the root of this attack. Your comment implies there is a wide pool of peoplecwho want to do that, along with mythical "someone". Here is a little story: There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. - Charles R. Swindoll
  - apantel 3y ago
    > Your comment implies there is a wide pool of peoplecwho want to do that, along with mythical "someone". I don’t know where you got that? I didn’t say there are a lot of people who can or would step up. It’s the opposite: competent, motivated people are rare… and why would they step in to maintain someone else’s project? I was implicitly hinting at this by saying you need a Steve Jobs. We all know how rare such people are.
- matheusmoreira 3y ago
  Someone has to step up. Someone's got to care. Someone this. Someone that. Who if not you? When if not now? Be someone.
  - apantel 3y ago
    What are you people talking about? I wasn’t saying it’s not something I would do. I was just stating what is needed for a project to thrive after the person or people who started it leave: someone has to fill the void left by the departing person or people, and that void is ‘keeper and maintainer of the vision’.

apantel 3y ago

Steve Jobs said that someone needs to be the keeper and maintainer of the vision. I think that’s the key to the making of anything great over the long run: there needs to be a Benevolent Dictator For Life who has the vision, competence, energy, passion, and caring to consistently iterate the thing well. The best case scenario for a project that loses its BDFL(s) is to hold on maybe as decently as Apple has under Tim Cook. They haven’t done anything truly innovative since Jobs died in my opinion — they just figured out more ways to apply the combination of a multitouch display, compact computer, and sensors; but they’ve iterated well on everything they produce and have held on to their lead in terms of hardware, user experience, and ecosystem cohesion. In short: someone very competent has to care a lot about the project for the right reasons, and continue driving it forward. If the old guard is rotating out, someone has to step up. If no one steps up, then leeches of various types will attach themselves to the project and simultaneously milk it for value and kill it.

mnau 3y ago
44% of active open source projects have only one maintainer. Out of all maintainers, 60% would describe themselves as unpaid hobbyist. They already are BDFL for themselves or one other person. The problem is a chronic deficiency of maintainers, which is at the root of this attack. Your comment implies there is a wide pool of peoplecwho want to do that, along with mythical "someone". Here is a little story: There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. - Charles R. Swindoll
- apantel 3y ago
  > Your comment implies there is a wide pool of peoplecwho want to do that, along with mythical "someone". I don’t know where you got that? I didn’t say there are a lot of people who can or would step up. It’s the opposite: competent, motivated people are rare… and why would they step in to maintain someone else’s project? I was implicitly hinting at this by saying you need a Steve Jobs. We all know how rare such people are.
matheusmoreira 3y ago
Someone has to step up. Someone's got to care. Someone this. Someone that. Who if not you? When if not now? Be someone.
- apantel 3y ago
  What are you people talking about? I wasn’t saying it’s not something I would do. I was just stating what is needed for a project to thrive after the person or people who started it leave: someone has to fill the void left by the departing person or people, and that void is ‘keeper and maintainer of the vision’.