Tag Archives: Linus Torvalds

Linus’s awakening

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It may be the biggest story in open source in 2018, a year that saw Microsoft purchase GitHub. Linus Torvalds replaced the Code of Conflict for the Linux kernel with a Code of Conduct. In a message on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML), Torvalds explained that he was taking time off to examine the way he led the kernel development community.

Torvalds has taken a lot of flak for his style over the years, including on this blog. While he has done an excellent job shepherding the technical development of the Linux kernel, his community management has often — to put it mildly — left something to be desired. Abusive and insulting behavior is corrosive to a community, and Torvalds has spent the better part of the last three decades enabling and partaking in it.

But he has seen the light, it would seem. To an outside observer, this change is rather abrupt, but it is welcome. Reaction to his message has been mixed. Some, like my friend Jono Bacon, have advocated supporting Linus in his awakening. Others take a more cynical approach:

https://twitter.com/justkelly_ok/status/1041522269002985473?s=19

I understand Kelly’s position. It’s frustrating to push for a more welcoming and inclusive community only to be met with insults and then when someone finally comes around to have everyone celebrate. Kelly and others who feel like her are absolutely justified in their position.

For myself, I like to think of it as a modern parable of the prodigal son. As tempting as it is to reject those who awaken late, it is better than them not waking at all. If Linus fails to follow through, it would be right to excoriate him. But if he does follow through, it can only improve the community around one of the most important open source projects. And it will set an example for other projects to follow.

I spend a lot of time thinking about community, particularly since I joined Red Hat as the Fedora Program Manager a few months ago. Community members — especially those in a highly-visible role — have an obligation to model the kind of behavior the community needs. This sometimes means a patient explanation when an angry rant would feel better. It can be demanding and time-consuming work. But an open source project is more than just the code; it’s also the community. We make technology to serve the people, so if our communities are not healthy, we’re not doing our jobs.

On Linus Torvalds and communities

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This week, the Internet was ablaze with reactions to comments made by Linus Torvalds at Linux.conf.au. Unsurprisingly, Torvalds defended the tone he employs on the Linux kernel mailing list, where he holds no punches. “I’m not a nice person, and I don’t care about you. I care about the technology and the kernel—that’s what’s important to me,” he said (as reported by Ars Technica). He later said “all that [diversity] stuff is just details and not really important.”

The reactions were mixed. Some were upset at the fact that an influential figure like Torvalds didn’t take the opportunity to address what they see as a major issue in the Linux community. Others dismissed those who were upset by pointing to the technical quality of Linux, cultural differences, etc.

I don’t subscribe to the LKML, so most of the posts I’ve seen are generally when someone is trying to point out a specific event (whether a behavior or a technical discussion), and I don’t claim to have a good sense for what that particular mailing list is like. Torvalds and the Linux community have developed a great technical product, but the community needs work.

Speaking to open source communities in general, too many people use the impersonal nature of email to mistake rudeness for directness. Direct and honest technical criticisms are a vital part of any collaborative development. Insults and viciousness are not. Some people thrive in (or at least tolerate) those kinds of environments, but they are incredibly off-putting to everyone else, particularly newcomers.

Open source communities, like any community, need to be welcoming to new members. This allows for the infusion of new ideas and new perspectives: some of which will be obnoxiously naive, some of which will be positively transformative. The naive posts of newcomers can be taxing when you’ve seen the same thing hundreds of times, but everyone has to learn somewhere. The solution is to have a team armed with pre-written responses in order to prevent frustrated emails.

Not being a jerk doesn’t just mean tolerating noobs, though. Communities should have an established code of conduct which addresses both annoying and mean actors. When the code of contact is being repeatedly breached, the violator needs to be nudged in the right direction. When a community is welcoming and actively works to remain that way, it thrives. That’s how it can get the diversity of ideas and grow the technical competency that Linus Torvalds so desires.