Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FreeBSD Core Developer Thrown Out

Posted by chrisd on from the maybe-good-maybe-bad dept.

SlashChick writes "From a discussion on the freebsd-chat mailing list, it appears that one of the FreeBSD core developers, Matt Dillon, has been barred from committing any changes to the FreeBSD kernel. Dillon was one of the developers 'responsible for making FreeBSD 4.x the most rugged and stress-proof free operating system in existence,' and also contributed to fixing the Linux VM. Unfortunately, there has been little explanation from the FreeBSD core team about why Dillon was thrown out, leading to speculation and worries about the future of the FreeBSD kernel. Does the Slashdot community have any more insight into this situation? Would someone from the FreeBSD team care to elaborate and assuage our worries?" CD Update: Greg Lehey from the core team has infact elaborated in this comment.

11 of 570 comments (clear)

  1. TdR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This remembers me the whole story between Theo de Raadt and NetBSD, which ended with the born of OpenBSD..

  2. Similar to the Net/OpenBSD split by kwoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Oddly enough, it was a very similar event that led to the creation of the OpenBSD project. Theo started it after a (rather extended, IIRC) tiff with the rest of the NetBSD core team.

    If Matt decides to fork the code and start his own project, I think the technical world would be a better place for it. A fifth open source BSD might seem excessive to some, but there are still many ways for such a project to differentiate itself.

    --
    unixkb.com -- articles on practical Unix issues.
  3. Re:Matt Dillon? by Black+Copter+Control · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Wow, actor and leet BSD Developer! Who'd have thunk?

    Perhaps Hedy Lamarr?

    --
    OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.
  4. Re:FUD by The+Bungi · · Score: 4, Interesting
    the use of "core developer" in the title of the article could be misleading

    No, actually it's indicative of elitism. It separates the haves from the have nots in the worst way possible. "You're not a member of the core team, you can't commit" as opposed to the way it's done in Linux, where the lines are well-defined but not labeled.

    Any projects needs leadership, but even avoiding dumb lofty titles and meaningless labels go a long way towards improving what is, in the end, a communist-type dictatorship that runs largely on good will (and I make no judgement regarding that, that's just what it is).

  5. It's a bad day for open source really... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Don't you all find it a bit odd that an open source project bars people from working on it? How can that be?

    After all the "open source is for everyone" spouts, someone goes and gets banned from a project... weird... ...and allegedly for the way he interacted with fellow developers. Excuse me, but programmers most certainly aren't the easiest bunch to get along with, especially the good ones - remember the article in Wired about Aspergers?

    (and yeah, I am a sufferer)

  6. Re:Little explanation? I think there's enough. by robbo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't know how the core team manages its repositories, or what their submission policy is, but I would interpret this move as analogous to revoking MD's write access to cvs. I'm sure he's 'welcome' to continue to submit patches, just like any other schmoe. And of course, he's always free to fork..

    --
    So long, and thanks for all the Phish
  7. Re:Little explanation? I think there's enough. by AxelTorvalds · · Score: 4, Interesting
    You're right the ends don't justify the means. That's why they shouldnt' take themselves so damn seriously. I'm not advocating abuse, but at the same time, it's software and it's not personal. What is important is what the end users do with it. It's far more important than the egos of a few developers. This guy had better be a raging prick, a few arguements or some abrasive characteristics doesn't cut it. In contrast their have been some amazing flames in Linux land and the guys who take part are amazing in their ability to not take it personally and the whole keeps improving.

    Of course that's the whole BSD movement, 2 developers get their panties in a bunch and instead of either one of them being big enough to compromise they fork. You can't tell me that the OpenBSD folks aren't doing things that all BSDs benefit from, same for FreeBSD and their amazing accomplishments. FreeBSD has been strong so far but it's sad to see them drop to that same level.

  8. Re:dillon leaves the FreeBSD project by Rares+Marian · · Score: 3, Interesting

    >The FreeBSD core team has informed the development community in detail about the reasons for Matt's removal. We don't think it's appropriate, nor fair to Matt, to wash dirty linen in public.

    Um, then what the hell was the point of this whole article?

    Oh and I see the FreeBSD team has their hands tied behind their backs. Freedom counts folks...

    --
    The message on the other side of this sig is false.
  9. Re:Free BSD (not) Dying by Enraged_jawa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I should have explained that I was an Engineer at AT&T Bell Labratories from 1977 to 1999, and my comments were based on the fact that the Unix System V (release 3) with extensions from from BSD 4.1 and 4.2 were ported to the AT&T PC 7300/3B1 computers that were popular in the mid 80's or so. Ironically, although we (AT&T) owned the Unix operating system, the powers that were in the mid 90's standardized on Microsoft Windows for the company. I still can't understand what they were thinking, but it wasn't the right choice, IMHO.

  10. Re:dillon leaves the FreeBSD project by Asmodai · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You missed the subtle idea that perhaps the person posting this story wasn't one of the developers.

    So whatever the original poster's idea behind this was, I have no idea about.

    Freedom counts, yes, just not at the expense of someone's person. Learn some social skills and think for a change more along the lines of: what if I were in that position, would I like to have the nitty-gritty about my/their behaviour displayed in full? (There are times when you definately _are_ wrong about what you've done, you know.)

    --
    Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai
  11. Hmm... by Eric+Green · · Score: 2, Interesting
    So let me get this straight. He had the social skills to build one of the biggest hosting companies on the Internet, but not the social skills to stroke the bloated egos of the FreeBSD team? Uhm, okay, I'll buy that, but it certainly doesn't reflect well on the FreeBSD team.

    Fact: The best programmers typically have a low tolerance for idiocy, and if you want the best programmers on your team, listening is a better solution than firing them. Poor social skills? Probably. Gets a helluva lot of productivity out of these people? You betcha.

    -E

    --
    Send mail here if you want to reach me.