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“The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

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Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#31

Post by mxstbr »

gowld wrote: post #9

Linus on trivial patches: https://lkml.org/lkml/2004/12/20/255 [ Linux-kernel added back into the cc, because I actually think this is important. ] On Tue, 21 Dec 2004, Jesper Juhl wrote: > Should I just stop attemting to make these trivial cleanups/fixes/whatever patches? are they more noice than gain? am I being a pain to more skilled people on lkml or can you all live with my, sometimes quite ignorant, patches? I…

This is such a great comment and very true. Looking at the speed and attitude that maintainers handle trivial PRs with can act as an indicator of the project health and will definitely make it more inviting for new contributors!

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#32

Post by hermitdev »

mxstbr wrote: post #31
gowld wrote: post #9

Linus on trivial patches: https://lkml.org/lkml/2004/12/20/255 [ Linux-kernel added back into the cc, because I actually think this is important. ] On Tue, 21 Dec 2004, Jesper Juhl wrote: > Should I just stop attemting to make these trivial cleanups/fixes/whatever patches? are they more noice than gain? am I being a pain to more skilled people on lkml or can you all live with my, sometimes quite ignorant, patches? I…

This is such a great comment and very true. Looking at the speed and attitude that maintainers handle trivial PRs with can act as an indicator of the project health and will definitely make it more inviting for new contributors!

In my experience, you can read a (large) code base all you want, but until you get in there and start making (breaking) changes, you're not truly going to understand it.

I think Linus's quote largely reflects my opinion/experience. A new comer's changes won't always be good or right, but get in there and try things out!

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#33

Post by yfiapo »

I've submitted many such small corrections to OpenBSD to help keep that standard high. No one will place those contributions on the same level as real development but I like that I've helped. And I know I appreciate it when even the documentation is kept at the same bar.

One of the reasons I fell in love with OpenBSD was the commitment to correctness throughout the entire system. This is a lot harder with Linux because they only control the kernel and not the entire distribution.

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#34

Post by black-tea »

chris_wot wrote: post #20
black-tea wrote: post #17

I'm sure this was fun for the guy who submitted it but in the end just useless noise on the mailing list.

“So please don't stop. Yes, those trivial patches _are_ a bother. Damn, they are _horrible_. But at the same time, the devil is in the detail, and they are needed in the long run. Both the patches themselves, and the people that grew up on them.”

I'm sorry but there's no way the 4 year old learnt anything from this. Maybe the adult did, though. Is that the point?

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#35

Post by antirez »

gowld wrote: post #9

Linus on trivial patches: https://lkml.org/lkml/2004/12/20/255 [ Linux-kernel added back into the cc, because I actually think this is important. ] On Tue, 21 Dec 2004, Jesper Juhl wrote: > Should I just stop attemting to make these trivial cleanups/fixes/whatever patches? are they more noice than gain? am I being a pain to more skilled people on lkml or can you all live with my, sometimes quite ignorant, patches? I…

I agree on the general concept of your post, however I cannot observe, at least for the things I maintain, that there is this pattern of "people starting small". At least not small in the sense of trivial changes. They maybe start submitting a small PR but that is most of the times already at the level of the contribution that they'll make in the future. So people that will become core contributors will send a small PR with a core change, showing already that they can understand the core of the system. However the open source movement cannot only optimize for the raw code output. The "I changed this" feeling is also great for users to realize that there is space for everybody.

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#36

Post by caymanjim »

black-tea wrote: post #34
chris_wot wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“So please don't stop. Yes, those trivial patches _are_ a bother. Damn, they are _horrible_. But at the same time, the devil is in the detail, and they are needed in the long run. Both the patches themselves, and the people that grew up on them.”

I'm sorry but there's no way the 4 year old learnt anything from this. Maybe the adult did, though. Is that the point?

She learned that her opinion is valued. She learned that it's ok to question things. She likely had a sense, based on the activity that followed, that she effected change in some way. I'm sure it was explained to her, and while of course she doesn't understand what a kernel or source code are, she surely had a sense of some positive accomplishment.

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#37

Post by iNate2000 »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #29

I kept wondering where to find the change. I didn't initially realize it is apparently included. But this seems to be it here (from the bottom of the page): 1.9 Ext4 file system parameters ------------------------------- +-------------------------------

Yes, I was also confused looking for one of "those things [=]". I guess it was actually one of these things [-]. :D

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#38

Post by dang »

marmot777 wrote: post #24
black-tea wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I listen to a beautiful piece of music it can bring a tear to my eye. I shed a tear when my grandmother died. I have emotions. But can you explain how the hell this could bring tears to your eyes? Frankly, I just don't believe you.

Well, maybe it’s because I have a young son and this reminded me of the innocent, magical realm of childhood.

Thank you for this model of how to respond to a comment that maybe was more insensitive than intended.

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#39

Post by DoreenMichele »

commandlinefan wrote: post #7

Well, now a 4-year-old has one more kernel patch than I have...

She should be eight by now, if that makes you feel any better... ;)

(Sadly, at age 53, I probably cannot get away with trying to make letters happy or otherwise be "cute", or I might well be inspired to try to do some kernel dev in the near future.)

Re: “The 's' is sad”: 4-year-old submits Linux kernel doc patch (2014)

#40

Post by hyperman1 »

golergka wrote: post #30
gowld wrote: post #9

Linus on trivial patches: https://lkml.org/lkml/2004/12/20/255 [ Linux-kernel added back into the cc, because I actually think this is important. ] On Tue, 21 Dec 2004, Jesper Juhl wrote: > Should I just stop attemting to make these trivial cleanups/fixes/whatever patches? are they more noice than gain? am I being a pain to more skilled people on lkml or can you all live with my, sometimes quite ignorant, patches? I…

I really hope that next time when somebody tries to paint Linus as an asshole and a toxic force for the community because of his rants, someone remembers to link this email too.

It demonstrates how Linus is not only a good programmer, but also a good leader.

I get the same idea as with the first Gordon Ramsey Kitchen-fixing programmes. Apparently, people said it was insane how he dared to swear on TV. But basically, he notices things are very wrong, makes sure he gets to the bottom of the mess, and hammers the ugly message very publicly into some owner who lost any connection with reality. If the cost is some swearing, that's the least of the problem. The failing businesses get fixed at least as much on a sociological level as on a cooking level.

Linus does the same. A big software project's problems are more sociological than technical in nature. Sometimes, the ugly message has to get trough, an another famous rant is born. But most of the time, work gets done, probably with a reasonable amount of smiles.

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