Everyone seems to be thinking the same thing -- the "kinder gentler Linus" is actually "Linus surrendering to social justice warriors".
I prefer to see leaders who are what I call "benevolent assholes" -- such as Ragnar (back when I worked for him), Donald Trump, and pre-2018 Linus Torvalds.
I may have to do the unthinkable and switch to OpenBSD. Theo deRaadt will always be an asshole and will never cave in to SJW's.
ESR's blog article about this turn of events [ esr.ibiblio.org/?p=8120 ] and the ensuing comments discussion seem to be a good place to read various perspectives, with a pretty good leaning towards the sensible (non-SJW) side.
The importance of this cannot be understated. SJW COC is a cancer which *will* destroy the Linux project as we know it today. Until now it has been a textbook example of open source meritocracy.
I've asked ESR to write a code of conduct for projects that specifically do *not* want to be infected by this kind of bullshit. If he doesn't answer or if he declines, I'm probably going to do it myself. It will be heavy on the profanity and written specifically to piss off the crybullies. "This project has great code. The best, really. Everyone is welcome to contribute.
Contributions will be accepted based solely on merit. Our code doesn't care about your feelings. If you feel that certain groups are under-represented in our team, or if you are offended by our technical terminology, shut the fuck up and go make me a sandwich, bitch."
There have been a few previous attempts at non-SJW codes:
https://github.com/rosarior/Code-of-Merit
Vox Day's more ironclad version of same:
https://voxday.blogspot.com/2016/01/code-of-merit.html
as well as one or two others which I can't recall at the moment.
It's been a while since I tried OpenBSD, but it sounds as though there's no time like the present.
BSD, BERKELEY Software Distribution... Berkeley being the most politically correct far leftest area of the nation?
I prefer to see leaders who are what I call "benevolent assholes" --
such as Ragnar (back when I worked for him), Donald Trump, and pre-2018
Linus Torvalds.
You should come work for me again. I'm a bigger asshole than ever.
Just imagine how quickly kernel technology will advance now that the mailing list is a designated safe space for special snowflakes.
The "post-meritocracy" people (yes, they really use that term!) claim that in a meritocracy, certain groups are under-represented.
I call bullshit, of course. If certain groups are under-represented WHEN COMPARED TO THE POOL of developers who are capable and willing to contribute to a project, then what you have is NOT a meritocracy.
And if you don't like the pool, the way to address that is to run a mentoring program.
Surrendering to social justice hitlers will permit them to ruin open source the way they ruin everything else they touch.
You should come work for me again. I'm a bigger asshole than ever.
I think you know that if that were the only variable I'd do it without hesitation.
As things stand now though, I'm highly paid, highly respected, doing work I love, and can work from home. That's a tough gig to leave.
I think you know that if that were the only variable I'd do it without
hesitation.
As things stand now though, I'm highly paid, highly respected, doing
work I love, and can work from home. That's a tough gig to leave.
Believe me, I do know.
Although, I could probably let you work from home most of the time.
But respect? That's tough.
BSD, BERKELEY Software Distribution... Berkeley being the most
politically correct far leftest area of the nation?
Yes, the same Berkeley that originated Berkeley DB, which I've been using for 20 years.
BSD unix hasn't been developed at Berkeley for a long time, though. And back when it was, the social justice hitlers weren't in the business of infecting software and software projects with snowflakism.
FreeBSD already has the SJW cancer and is in a far later stage than Linux.
OpenBSD is run by a Benevolent Asshole who got kicked off the NetBSD project because he refused to put up with their crap. Admittedly, I have done more than my share of badmouthing of OpenBSD, but as I've pointed out in the past, I am open minded enough to change my opinion in the face of new information.
Eh...
Maybe (perhaps) Linus is just trying to figure out how to get the same quality without the vitriol.
You don't *have* to be an asshole. Just uncompromising on quality. Unless that's what it means to be an asshole.
When I heard about Linus, though, I got to thinking about Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was considered quite a jerk, from what I've read. Leonard Bernstein was another asshole. Both made some amazing works of art, mostly due to not compromising on quality. But, I think you can find other examples of great works by folks who didn't have to be a jerk to achieve them.
(Problem is, can I name any of them? I dunno... the jerks are so much more colorful and noted for their behavior, while the nice guys with great works might have those works remembered, but themselves be mostly forgotten).
Code of Conduct Killer:
https://github.com/majestrate/XD/commit/c999eb7da2512edaac37805a03d7aca760dc7a4b
BSD is one of the few things to come out of Berkeley that is not merely non-toxic, but well engineered.
My greatest concern regarding Linus at this time is whether his Mike Pence rule failed to protect him (ie, if someone actually has even a whiff of #metoo dirt to smear him with), or if it was merely spillover from his daughter's feminist indoctrination. Can he blink twice to let us know he's okay?
"Is it alright if I make a pull request on your COCK?"
As for Linus, yes his daughter is an SJW, and he himself is politically Hitlerian.
We're less concerned about Linus and more concerned about Linux. Like it or not, the "benevolent dictator" model *works*. For Linus, this is the "then they came for me" moment. Perhaps this turn of events is enough to redpill him and he will begin fighting back.
We'll all keep doing what we've been doing with open source, but we just have to be aware in the back our our heads that Linux has cancer.
Benevolent dictatorships work on a short term, but they work really, really well during that term.
They work well because leadership is consolidated to a single person who makes the decisions. As you start adding people (board of directors, or goodness forbid committees), the effort gets increasingly bogged down.
Well, I should say, they work really, really well during that term if the dictator is smart. They're awful if the dictator is an idiot who makes poor decisions.
But, it's a short term, in that they only survive for as long as that person remains the dictator. For something like Linux, it'll last for as long as Linus remains the dictator (or, if you like, the Linus we knew, vs. the Linus he might become). Death, or Certain Events can knock a person out of the position, and unless the position can be filled with another, you won't get very good results.
(Hint: they're rarely filled with another benevolent dictator).
Jay Maynard (Tron Guy) offers his Open Source Contribution Policy:
https://medium.com/@jmaynard/a-contribution-policy-for-open-source-that-works-bfc4600c9d83
As far as operating systems go, for the discerning iconoclast who disdains flourescent deep state Negroes, there's always Shrine:
https://github.com/minexew/Shrine/
- George Patton
But, it's a short term, in that they only survive for as long as that
person remains the dictator. For something like Linux, it'll last for
Did I mention that Linus is taking a break from kernel development, "coincidentally" at the same time as he issued his apology to the SJW's and allowed the CoC to be put into effect?
He's been forced out.
He might not even realize it. Outside of kernel development, Linus is a far-left Hitler. His daughters are feminazis. So he might only be aware of social justice warfare in the same way that a fish is aware of water.
Word on the street is that they're already working on booting out Ted T'so next.
With any luck, these happenings will be enough to redpill Linus. He'll have to fork the kernel and beat the crap out of his daughter, but the world will be a better place. Unfortunately, the forked kernel doesn't come with the US$1,600,000/year salary that the Linux Foundation was paying him.
Conspiracy theory time: is Microsoft secretly funding an effort to destroy open source with social justice warfare?
He didn't want a back door placed in the Linux kernel so they had to find someone who did want a back door.