> : That said, I think you are over estimating our (the Linux community) place in
> : the development of Linux. Linus gets to decide.
>
> That's not the point at all. The point is whether we are learning
> anything or are we just counting on Linus to catch every bad idea we
> want to put into the kernel. We should be working smarter every day,
> not just working and hoping it is right. That means we should understand
> /why/ Linus says yes to some things and no to others.
>
[snip]
It was my point because the kernel will always look the way Linus (or whoever
follows him) wants it to because they are the one who ultimately takes the
blame and the glory for it. This isn't something we do to Linus, it is the
position he has placed himself in by the decisions of what kinds of controle he
was willing to ceede and what kinds he wasn't. Ultimately, I can't believe
that Linus doesn't tend to ignore patches that "feel" wrong unless they are
pretty compelling and glom onto patches that are "right on".
If he is spending all his time being gatekeeper and not enjoying that then
Linus needs to find a way to change the model of control he is comfortable
with. But that is up to him and not something we can or should try to dictate
to him (not that I think you were ;-).
I say all of this to disagree that we should self censor and try to guess what
Linus will say yes too and not discuss or propose things we aren't sure he will
put into the kernel. Linus is finite, as you say. He may not have the vision
to see how a perticular idea in its infancy would fit. But he seems to be
willing to let ideas percolate untill it is clear whether they are compatable
with his vision of Linux.
I feel, that to keep this model working, to exploit the strenghth of open
development, we need to have as open and including a discussion as possible.
Try anything that is reasonable. This calls for some self censorship (don't
propose a feature that Linus has said will never go into Linux). But it seems
to me that people must also have a chance to come up with interesting ideas and
have them explored on their merrits and not on some individuals opinions as to
their suitability.
I guess my point is/was that while all of us may have opinions as to what is
bloat and what is a fundamentally important and exciting development, the only
opinion that really matters is that of Linus Torvalds because Linux has his
name on it. If we try to second guess him to "help" him, we may be driving
out interesting and important ideas that Linus himself was interested in.
Anyway, you argue forcefully and convicingly for more intelegent development
and I would never want to argue agains that ;-). Sorry if this is slipping off
topic. I hope I have been clear and maybe my words have shed some light on my
opinions.
Robert G. Werner
rwerner@lx1.microbsys.com
Impeach Conggress!!
If the girl you love moves in with another guy once, it's more than enough.
Twice, it's much too much. Three times, it's the story of your life.
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