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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)

#61

Post by HarryHirsch »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #57
golergka wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Someone can be an asshole and a great leader, at the same or different times. Linus himself, to his credit, recently admitted that he's been unreasonably abusive and is trying to learn better.[0] People are complicated. He needn't be either a saint or a demon. [0] https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/9/16/167

that he's been unreasonably abusive

I have not heard of Linus taking credit for other people's work, or him getting into a fistfight at a conference or feeling up women's asses.

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

#62

Post by HarryHirsch »

rdiddly wrote: post #53
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…

Can't stop laughing evilly at the thought of him instead tearing into a 4-year-old like Christ, Maisa, your reasoning is weak as hell, and then you come up with THIS shit. Heck no. In fact, not a fucking way in hell. Look yourself in the mirror, Maisa. This patch is ugly, and then you have the gall to quote the "the last s is sad" thing in commit... compared to the diseased abortion you just posted... EDIT: Shoot I k…

Can someone explain what's funny here?

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

#63

Post by kbutler »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #61
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone can be an asshole and a great leader, at the same or different times. Linus himself, to his credit, recently admitted that he's been unreasonably abusive and is trying to learn better.[0] People are complicated. He needn't be either a saint or a demon. [0] https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/9/16/167

that he's been unreasonably abusive I have not heard of Linus taking credit for other people's work, or him getting into a fistfight at a conference or feeling up women's asses.

And apples are not oranges, but they are both fruit.

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

#64

Post by golergka »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #57
golergka wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Someone can be an asshole and a great leader, at the same or different times. Linus himself, to his credit, recently admitted that he's been unreasonably abusive and is trying to learn better.[0] People are complicated. He needn't be either a saint or a demon. [0] https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/9/16/167

The thing is, all Linus rants that I've seen are entirely reasonable. Yes, calling someone stupid is rude, but rude things should be used in extreme circumstances. And when a single developer can negatively affect millions - wait, actually, billions - of people around the world with a stupid patch, that's exactly the case where being rude and aggressive is entirely reasonable.

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

#65

Post by intertextuality »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #62
rdiddly wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't stop laughing evilly at the thought of him instead tearing into a 4-year-old like Christ, Maisa, your reasoning is weak as hell, and then you come up with THIS shit. Heck no. In fact, not a fucking way in hell. Look yourself in the mirror, Maisa. This patch is ugly, and then you have the gall to quote the "the last s is sad" thing in commit... compared to the diseased abortion you just posted... EDIT: Shoot I k…

Can someone explain what's funny here?

Nothing. The person above does not realize that Linus doesn't yell like this at newbie committers. His rants are directed at people who -should- know better.

I'm not justifying them, but there is quite a difference.

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

#66

Post by rdiddly »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #62
rdiddly wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't stop laughing evilly at the thought of him instead tearing into a 4-year-old like Christ, Maisa, your reasoning is weak as hell, and then you come up with THIS shit. Heck no. In fact, not a fucking way in hell. Look yourself in the mirror, Maisa. This patch is ugly, and then you have the gall to quote the "the last s is sad" thing in commit... compared to the diseased abortion you just posted... EDIT: Shoot I k…

Can someone explain what's funny here?

Apparently I'm the only one who thinks it is, so I'll volunteer that I found it funny because it's unexpected and shocking, yet almost plausible enough to be believed, given Linus Torvalds' track record as a sometime verbal abuser of adults. Speaking of which, I just realized it also includes an unintentional satirical subtext that highlights the difference between how Linus most likely treats children (probably not like this) and how he demonstrably has treated adults (exactly like this). Which isn't "funny" per se, but there's your explanation. Explanations are rarely funny either, nor do they generally result in suddenly getting the joke and laughing. But I suspect that wasn't your aim anyway.

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

#67

Post by int_19h »

caymanjim wrote: post #36
black-tea wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

She also learned that when you see something wrong, and you have the ability to fix it, it's a good thing to do so. Many big problems (speaking broadly here, not just about software engineering) really consist of such tiny things that aggregate, and can be tackled in a decentralized fashion if most people bothered to contribute just a little, even when it feels like the effort is minuscule and worthless.

Think of it as the equivalent of picking up a small piece of litter on the street, and throwing it into the nearby trash can.

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

#68

Post by rdiddly »

intertextuality wrote: post #65
HarryHirsch wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain what's funny here?

Nothing. The person above does not realize that Linus doesn't yell like this at newbie committers. His rants are directed at people who -should- know better. I'm not justifying them, but there is quite a difference.

See my sibling comment to yours. The outrageousness and unlikeliness of yelling at a 4-year-old (the noobiest of noobs) is exactly why I found it funny in the first place.

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

#69

Post by robin_reala »

hyperman1 wrote: post #40
golergka wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. I…

The US Kitchen Nightmares are completely faked up drama for US audiences. Watch some of the original UK ones and you’ll see how he tries to coach the chefs with comparatively minimal swearing and anger.

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

#70

Post by chrisseaton »

golergka wrote: post #64
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone can be an asshole and a great leader, at the same or different times. Linus himself, to his credit, recently admitted that he's been unreasonably abusive and is trying to learn better.[0] People are complicated. He needn't be either a saint or a demon. [0] https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/9/16/167

The thing is, all Linus rants that I've seen are entirely reasonable. Yes, calling someone stupid is rude, but rude things should be used in extreme circumstances. And when a single developer can negatively affect millions - wait, actually, billions - of people around the world with a stupid patch, that's exactly the case where being rude and aggressive is entirely reasonable.

Being rude and aggressive would be reasonable if there was some imminent danger, but there isn't - he can calmly explain things and doesn't have to merge anything until he's ready.
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