Is Linus Killing Linux?

[Lasse Saarinen]

Thanks for posting that piece, Devon. Quite interesting.

What the article seems to miss is the fact that Linus is by no means a 
dictator that cotrolls the kernel with an iron fist. In fact there are a 
few other prominent figures in the kernel development who share almost 
as much responsibility as Linus, most importantly Alan Cox who quite 
often has released kernel versions in Linus' abcense.
   Also, since the kernel is open source, anyone can make modifications 
to it at will. Distro makers have been adding their own little patches 
in for a long time now (DVD drive support, for example, was not found in 
2.2 kernels by default. It had to be patched in separately. In 2.4 the 
same code has now made it's way into the main tree throuh the 2.3 
development kernels.) Anyone, wether a company or an individual, is free 
to develop what ever features for the Linux kernel they like. As long as 
any additions are first released as separate patches and the Linux 
development community approves of them, Linus has nothing against adding 
them into the main tree. Thus, if a particular company wants certain 
features out of Linux, they can develop a solution in the open, and if 
it turns out good and useful Linus will probably add it to the kernel as 
long as the source is free. And even if it doesn't make it to the main 
kernel, it can be still released as a separate patch by the developer. 
It can be then picked up and used by anyone who needs it. Patching third 
party code into the kernel is simpple enough.
   The fact that Linus "purposely" delayed the 2.4 release is not a bad 
thing. One of the best things about Linux is its phenomenal stability 
compared to, for example, Microsoft products. If the code was released 
quick and dirty in order to keep up with deadlines, it would soon become 
another Windows 9X. Some companies might have a problem with this since 
it hurts their profits, but because profit isn't what motivates the 
Linux community, their whining really makes no difference. And as Dean 
and Carl said, Linux is still Linus' baby and he does what he pleases 
with it - even if he's letting others to babysit from time to time. So 
far, his parenting has been flawless.

Looks like this post turned out to be more of a rant than I intended. Oh 
well...

Oh, by the way, there is an interview of Linus in the Dec. '00 issue of 
the "Linux Magazine" that touches some of the same issues as this 
article. Interestingly, Linus' opinions in the interview contradict 
completely with what Ms. Rooney thinks is going on with Linux.

    - Lasse