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Linus does not fuck around
(lemmy.one)
An oldie, but a goodie
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this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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His style of being direct, having a high quality threshold and calling out bullshit immediately and bluntly is why the Linux kernel went from a university project to powering everything from lightbulbs to super computers. I think it kind of ridiculous that this demonstrably effective style got framed as "toxic" just because he hurt a few people's fee-fees.
You can be direct and call out bullshit without swearing and name calling. While the content of this sounds reasonable, the tone definitely isn't. If someone talked to me like that I'd tell them to fuck right off.
Yes you could but he didn't and clearly his style was self evidently effective. And I'd add that if you've ever read the LKML archives, that these rants were rare and usually preceded by long chains of discussion before it reached that point.
Doesn't make it right. Michael Jackson's dad abused his kids and they became world famous artists, doesn't mean abusing your kids is acceptable or should be seen as such.
This is a nonsensical comparison
It's not a comparison, it's an analogy. Important distinction.
Except it's not a distinction at all.
Of course it is. A square is also a rectangle but it's still an important distinction.
It's a rotten analogy. Comparing Linus having a go at some volunteers is not analogous, or comparable to a father abusing kids.
The analogy is that the end result doesn't justify the behaviour from the person in power. It's apt.
Depends on how you define "effective". Because by his own admission, it gets shit done, but also alienates people in the project and turns off others from joining it.
So yeah, you'll get the update pushed, and it'll work, but down the line you find yourself struggling to keep up without the help of people that don't want to work with you.
Linus' mistake is a classic one: really self-sufficient tech person doing fantastic work with a team but not appreciating that there's a whole social layer to it that is every bit as important as the standards and procedures at keeping everything working.
I define effective by the fact it was self evidently effective. No need to split hairs or dissemble here. Linux is objectively, indisputably the most important piece of code in the world. Everything else, such as a the context free boo hoo about some times when he has had a go at people is just noise.
Seems like the man himself disagrees with you, since he saw it as a big enough problem to get professional help and make long lasting changes. 🤷♂️
Sure you can. But the evidence i see in my immediate vicinity is that informations go in through one ear and straight out through the other without holding on to anything if presented in in a none swearing or name calling manner. It hurts but it works.
I went to LKML for context, so I return with context.
When 3.8-rc1 was released, "Rafael J. Wysocki" reported 100% CPU usage by knotify4(part of KDE) on OpenSUSE Thubleweed with pulseaudio as audio server.
At which Mauro Carvalho Chehab replies starting with blaming pulseaudio(why? Srsly, why? I don't like it, but this is just troll behaviour) and saying pulseaudio(which is NOT knotify4) should not try to use V4L2.
This shitty behaviour ignites Linus' back and he replies with mentioned in post message.
I'm glad I don't live in your immediate vicinity.
Oh noes he used bad wordsies? My fee-fees!
Way to infantalize the people calling him out while excusing his childish tantrums.
Randomly blaming pulseaudio when talking about 100% CPU usage by KDE. I don't like pulseaudio, but this is childish indeed.
Come on dude. Either there's a standard here or there isn't.
Uh yeah. Childish behavior is childish. Holding people to a higher standard is not.
You're infantilizing Linus' expression of anger, just the same as the person you're replying to is infantilizing people who're upset by it.
Either they're both bad, or they're both acceptable - or you're effectively saying that infantilization is fine, but only towards people whose behaviour you disapprove of.
One behavior is inherently childish. One is not.
One is objectively the attitude of an infant and thus does not require the act of infantalization in order to be framed as such. This is not the double-standard gotcha that you think it is.
To rephrase, one more time:
The act of calling out childish behaviour is not childish.
There is a difference between a rant and a tantrum. If you read the post, you could see very clearly he makes a point very forcefully.
Okay. How about: don't lash out at people when you're mad.
Where's the logic in looking at something successful and picking a singular thing to be responsible? What seems more likely is you are looking for an idea you are attached to that exists adjacent to something successful. It's like a Mormon looking for successful Mormon CEOs to then claim the company's success is due to the Mormon work ethic. It's like how in Whiplash the Charlie Parker story is venerated and seen as explanatory by the characters.
The logic is simple. This is s his style and it demonstrably worked. I'm sure you could point to someone else's style that also works in another context but that's irrelevant.
But did it work because of the style or in spite of it? No reason to believe it wouldn't be even more successful if he had been less abrasive like he is now.
It's easier to label other people toxic rather than finding flaws in themselves. More people will agree with someone being toxic, because deflection as a tactic got so ingrained in people that they don't know better.
Torvalds got professional help for that. Even he acknowledged that it was a problem.
Exactly. It might not be good to be on the receiving end, but the chain of discussion that went before these rants should have given people the clue they needed to stop while they were ahead.
I agree on the first part. However this is from 2012 and in the meantime Linus himself realized and admitted that he was not proud of behaving like that and took real measures and seeked help in order to improve himself.
Hell yeah. But it's not considered good anymore, everyone has to be very nice and whatnot. Too bad imo but I guess less hurt feelings.
Getting angry = tOxiCK i cry evertem
Everyone gets angry, but this is not a constructive way to communicate what someone else needs to do. You can express all of this without belittling and swearing at someone. Being angry is fine, taking it out on other people is rude and unnecessary.
He basically has one rule and one rule only... we don't break user space... IMO, if you break that one rule, I believe he has the right to be angry. It's not constructive, but I wouldn't hold it against him.
If he was my boss and he treated me like this I would absolutely hold it against him! Honestly I don't care how much an employee fucks up, there is no excuse for abusing them.
Even more so because Torvalds is not his boss and the guy is a volunteer that is not being paid for his contribution.
I'm glad Torvalds was the bigger man and got help for his temper.
Red Hat email, not a volunteer.
Where is abuse part? More like victimblaming from Mauro.
Yeah, I completely agree, the guy's a duche, blaiming others for his mistake (assumption, that leads to a shitty PR, which is a mistake).
As I said, if I did that, I would gladly take the heat from Linus. Own up to your mistake. Yes, you do deserve to be called names. You're a maintainer for the most wide spread kernel in the world. "But I don't get paid...". You can quit at any time pal, no one is forcing you to do it.
To be fair he did it after Linus' speech.
I posted 3 screenshots in comments here.
https://lemmy.world/comment/5872379
How to communicate with someone who in conversation about KDE randomly blames pulseaudio and opensuse?
Tough love isn't toxicity, even if Linus had to grovel a bit to divert the Karens elsewhere.
Shut the fuck up.
Stop breaking user space