421–430 of 1001 posts
Collectively, we must think we're a really tough bunch. Don't mess with us or we'll screw up your codebase and rename all your variables "bob". Hah!
I hope we can all learn a lesson from Linus. Those of us who still need it, anyway.
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He's not just stubborn, persistent, and unyielding: he's performatively so. In his most notorious attacks, he's clearly playing to an audience. That could be the problem. He clearly can separate the blunt stubbornness ("we do not break userland, period") from the performative rudeness ("SHUT THE FUCK UP MAURO"). (I mean, to be clear: what the fuck do I know? I've never been in the position Linus is in.)
I've always assumed that when he really goes after someone it was him blowing off steam to maintain his own mental health rather than trying to put on a show. He's been managing a pile of complexity for over two decades that would have crushed most of us long ago. If it has been even moderately for show then sure, he should work on dialing it back (just a bit... i.e. short of getting personal).
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I think there's a delicate way to be both "firm" and "polite" - and that's to not be pretend to be "agreeable", but rather to separate the firmness on technical issues from politeness on personal description. That is, to say "this code is awful" while also a) going out of your way to praise the things co-workers/subordinates do well, and b) when it is appropriate to make general judgments on their performance, make i…
100% agree, assertive but kind is a wonderful skill and one which needs to be cultivated. My point is just that for whatever broad psychological reason, this seems to be a somewhat rare trait among very technically proficient people. It's the sort of personality trait that leads people to like and respect you.
The key is culture. Technically proficient people working within a community where "assertive but kind" is the norm tend to follow that norm.
I'll mention Doug Cutting as the ideal who melds technical proficiency, assertiveness, and kindness. I've often thought of Doug as a better role model for Open Source leadership than Linus Torvalds -- but it looks like after today I'll have an opportunity to reassess!
Hopefully this will inspire leaders of other projects to realize that it's not okay to be a toxic jerk just because you're smart and in-charge and confident that you're right.
I'm probably going to be alone in saying so, but I always enjoyed Linus and his attitude. (to me) it made him appear honest and dedicated to (his own) goals, and I always felt like that was respectable. (mostly) whenever he was proven technically wrong about how to do something he would concede to the technically better solution, and if he didn't do so he gave reasons for his conclusion. in other words : his technica…
Would you have enjoyed it if you were the object of one of his rants?
If he's correct: I'd be upset at being wrong about something, but hopefully i'd have willpower to sober up to the fact that I may in fact be wrong once in awhile.
If I'm correct: I'd be upset because a person I respect is technically wrong about something, and then decided to rant about it.
Choice C: What if the question is non-technical? Answer : Don't ask Torvalds. He's not an expert in that domain.
(truthful answer: I've been a member of a project criticized by him. It felt terrible, but not because of some personal sleight; he just happened to be correct about the inappropriate-ness of what was being used, and being wrong is a tough pill to swallow when you're young and cocky.)
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More importantly, many thanks and congratulations to the folks who finally changed his mind.
I wonder what that discussion was like. It's not as if no one ever mentioned the subject to him before.
I've pondered over this a bit and have come to the conclusion that a lot of people simply don't have close enough friends exposed to their work behavior, or they simply accept it.. Feedback from randos isn't the most likely to instigate big personal change and reflection.
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I disagree strongly with his personal 'no BS' attacks. For some people, it's a huge deterrent to make contributions. I've participated in a number of open source projects. I like to think that I've made useful suggestions and contributions, in addition to making dumb ones. When I make a dumb suggestion, I expect to corrected in a respectful way. There have been cases where a project maintainer answered in an aggressi…
That makes sense. I also hate personal confrontation. In the past, I have even had my own sub-ordinates (I hate that word - but they were the engineers that reported to me) confront me, leaving me, from time-to-time to go home and vomit and not sleep. So - yes - I understand. I've never looked at a rebuke from Linus in the same way. I don't know why. I guess I'll go think about that... EDIT: After (very) short reflec…
I'd be terrible at being a celebrity.
Newton was an asshole too. The whole "apple fell on his head" story came about because he was so mean to people. I won't say that most geniuses are inempathetic, but many are. Einstein wasn't, some say Gauss was. Beethoven was. Linus is. And we'll accept Linus's attitude for being an aversion to bullshit, just the quality that we need in a kernel maintainer. I'm glad to see that Linus finally realizes that he has a p…
I hypothesize that this change will make Linux (ie: the quality of the kernel) at least slightly worse in 20 years than it would have been if Linus never changed. Linus has been a great steward of the Kernel. I have never seen any instance where he has trashed on someone for any other reason than Linux . Sometimes he's cringingly brutal, sometimes he offends people. Regardless, he's been immaculately consistent in mo…