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Why is everybody so concerned about Linus being who he is? Every month there's yet another article about 'rude open source developers'. I thought we were hacker

Why is everybody so concerned about Linus being who he is? Every month there's yet another article about 'rude open source developers'. I thought we were hackers and not conformists. I could care less what Linus says it's his kernel, his project, his life, his personality. Linux is not a job, it has no sensitivity training or rules of social conduct. If you don't like it don't volunteer. Nothing stopping you from forking the kernel, developing it yourself and calling it Sensetivlix: The GNUspeak conformity project.

VMG 13y ago
> Nothing stopping you from forking the kernel, developing it yourself and calling it Sensetivlix: The GNUspeak conformity project. Weirder things have happened
avens19 13y ago
You're absolutely right that it's totally up to him and he can act the way he likes, but I think the point of the article is that if you're claiming that open-source is a "community" endeavour, then perhaps being a giant asshole isn't the best means of accomplishing that end. He is discouraging potential developers from wanting to work with him for exactly the reasons you mentioned: it's not a job, there is no pay, he's not your boss. The last thing I want when volunteering my free time is some guy belittling me. As has been mentioned in this thread, there are ways of accomplishing the same task while being a reasonable human being. His ego and entitlement are justifying his behaviour and it's bullshit.
- hamburglar 13y ago
  I'd say open source on the whole is a "community" endeavor, but individual open source projects are not necessarily. There are countless projects that are a single author who accepts bugfixes here and there but in general it's a one-man show. The linux kernel is like that: it's Linus' project that he lets some people help with. It's a dictatorship, largely ego-driven, and he has the last word on any philosophical, design, architectural, or even political decision. For better or for worse.
NegativeK 13y ago
> If you don't like it don't volunteer. People are trying to say that Linux could be better if it didn't have bullying in its community. "Go away if you don't like it" isn't really an answer to that, regardless of which side you're on.

VMG 13y ago

> Nothing stopping you from forking the kernel, developing it yourself and calling it Sensetivlix: The GNUspeak conformity project. Weirder things have happened

avens19 13y ago

You're absolutely right that it's totally up to him and he can act the way he likes, but I think the point of the article is that if you're claiming that open-source is a "community" endeavour, then perhaps being a giant asshole isn't the best means of accomplishing that end. He is discouraging potential developers from wanting to work with him for exactly the reasons you mentioned: it's not a job, there is no pay, he's not your boss. The last thing I want when volunteering my free time is some guy belittling me. As has been mentioned in this thread, there are ways of accomplishing the same task while being a reasonable human being. His ego and entitlement are justifying his behaviour and it's bullshit.

hamburglar 13y ago
I'd say open source on the whole is a "community" endeavor, but individual open source projects are not necessarily. There are countless projects that are a single author who accepts bugfixes here and there but in general it's a one-man show. The linux kernel is like that: it's Linus' project that he lets some people help with. It's a dictatorship, largely ego-driven, and he has the last word on any philosophical, design, architectural, or even political decision. For better or for worse.

NegativeK 13y ago

> If you don't like it don't volunteer. People are trying to say that Linux could be better if it didn't have bullying in its community. "Go away if you don't like it" isn't really an answer to that, regardless of which side you're on.