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Just try to explain this for example: https://www.gov.uk/vessel-clas...
Or this: http://www.pancanal.com/common...
World is changing...

The Panama Canal was dug around 1910. In 1910, about 38% of Americans were employed in agriculture... now it is under 2%. In other words, humankind is radically better at things like "moving dirt."

This argument makes no sense whatever.

Agricultural employment in the states is under 2% because we are "radically" better at things like farming.

Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in China was last measured at 34.80 in 2011, according to the World Bank.

Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in China

By July 1, 1914, a total of 238,845,587 cubic yards had been excavated during the American construction era. Together with some 30,000,000 cubic yards excavated by the French, this gives a total of around 268,000,000 cubic yards, or more than four times the volume originally estimated for de Lesseps' sea level canal.

END OF CONSTRUCTION

Yeah but take a look at the construction photos like this one

Wow, and we thought construction was top heavy now; we see 1 guy working and 4-5 guys "supervising." In this photo I see 1-2 guys working and over 20 "supervising!" We've improved quite a bit...

The Panama canal nearly bankrupted America.

Nonsense.

The Panama Canal cost Americans around $375,000,000, including the $10,000,000 paid to Panama and the $40,000,000 paid to the French company. It was the single most expensive construction project in United States history to that time. Fortifications cost extra, about $12,000,000.

Amazingly, unlike any other such project on record, the American canal had cost less in dollars than estimated, with the final figure some $23,000,000 below the 1907 estimate, in spite of landslides and a design change to a wider canal.

Even more amazing is that this huge, complex and unprecedented project was carried out without any of the scandal or corruption that often plagues such efforts, nor has any hint of scandal ever come to light in subsequent years.

There was, of course, also a cost in lives. According to hospital records, 5,609 lives were lost from disease and accidents during the American construction era. Adding the deaths during the French era would likely bring the total deaths to some 25,000 based on an estimate by Gorgas. However, the true number will never be known, since the French only recorded the deaths that occurred in hospital.

END OF THE CONSTRUCTION

Yeah but take a look at the construction photos like this one. A modern construction crew with huge excavators and trucks would be in a whole different league.

I'd rather only have people who are mentally stable enough to withstand Linus's flames develop code for the Linux kernel.

To each their own. Personally, I'd rather have good Linux kernel developers develop code for the Linux kernel.

Also, your implication that anyone who doesn't want to work in an unpleasant environment is mentally unstable is obvious hyperbole.

This is not about a small experimental project where nobody cares about stability, but one of the largest truly collaborative endeavors ever made by humankind

And again, your hyperbole is unfounded. This is one of the largest collaborative endeavours ever made by humankind. This is one of the largest collaborative endeavours ever made by humankind. This is one of the largest collaborative endeavours ever made by humankind.

Linux is a relatively large software project. There are plenty of other relatively large software projects, written by plenty of other smart people who also care about stability and quality.

billions of dollars in worldwide economic growth hinge on its future development

In what way, exactly? Systems that include Linux surely have a collective value on that scale, but that value wouldn't disappear if someone made a small mistake in a kernel commit, or if Linus retired tomorrow.

To give you some perspective, I'm pretty sure that the astronaut program performs stricter tests for mental stability than being able to take some guy's rants not too personal

You are giving me some perspective, by comparing a programme that develops one relatively large piece of software to a programme that puts humans in space? Physician, heal thyself!

Oh, come on. Linus is not the boss of any of the people on LKML.

Are you suggesting that he's just an ordinary poster on the list, with no special authority compared to kernel contributors and no special status as a leader that newcomers might look to?

Okinawa is a different issue, I doubt that if not for North Korea being so close that we would still be in the area. Yes, a strong military presence is "needed" for colonizaton, but a big one is a demand for taxes from the local population to finance it and provide a "little" profit.

These were not "little issues" at the time, there were great public debates, editorials, and many many discussions. Many people objected to those conquests, and the drain on taxes that being a "good" conquer demanded. Kinda like Iraq, what did we sink in that hole, I am not sure of the running total, but it must be north of a HUNDRED AND FIFTY BILLION US DOLLARS by now, and we don't even plan on staying (well maybe a big base in the desert in western Iraq, but I think that we'll pull back to Quatar and Kuwait). That is the reason why, it costs too much money! The reasons for going into Iraq were (to say the least) a strech, but I much perfer it the low grade war that continued after the UN expelled Iraq from Kuwait.

Just one?

The Panama Canal.

Lockheed Martin's X-33 single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicle concept.

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor

The NEAR space probe (and it was delivered 9 months ahead of schedule!)

The World Trade Center recovery effort.

The US Navy's Super Hornet (upgrade to the old F/A-18 Hornet Naval strike fighter)

The U2 Spy Plane

Also, I remember hearing from the Discovery Chanel or TLC or Discovery Wings or something that the F-117 Stealth Fighter was developed under budget, but I can't seem to find a reliable link.

Golden Grove Prison at St. Croix in the US Vigrin Islands.

The Grand Staircase-Escalante monument in Utah.

It happens. It's rare percentage wise, but it does happen all the time. With the exception of the last two, which I only found out from google searching for links for the rest, I knew of all of these off of the top of my head, so it's not a big secret or anything. Just think of all the mundane projects that come in under budget too. Government buildings, roadways, etc.