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> But then, how can Linux exist? How does that square with “never break the user space?” Hot take: This catch phrase is out of date. For Linux desktop normies

by throwaway2037 1y ago

> But then, how can Linux exist? How does that square with “never break the user space?” Hot take: This catch phrase is out of date. For Linux desktop normies like me who don't really care about the stability of the Linux user space API, user space does break when GUI libraries (and the myriad of libraries dependencies) change their APIs. For example, I mostly use KDE, which depends upon Qt libraries for its GUI. Qt regularly introduces breaking changes to their API during each version increment: 4->5->6, etc. (I don't hate them for it; it is normally carefully done and well-documented.)

LtWorf 1y ago
Kernel breaks API all the time too. It applies only if something that linus personally uses stops working.
- LtWorf 1y ago
  Funny that I'm getting downvoted after having spent hours investigating a failure due to kernel breaking API a couple of weeks ago :) I guess y'all know better :)
  - Gracana 1y ago
    Why did you write a comment inviting downvotes when you could have told that story instead?
    - LtWorf 1y ago
      Why do people presume there isn't a story? Like I'm just making up stuff?
vhantz 1y ago
"don't break user space" is about the Linux kernel not breaking user space. Qt is user space as well as any desktop environment or GUI framework. Introducing breaking changes with major version releases is standard software development practice. Very few projects go out of their way to always keep backwards compatibility.