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Lead PHP Developer Quits
Jasper Bryant-Greene writes "Jani Taskinen, one of the lead developers of the Zend Engine (the engine that powers PHP), as well as a lead developer for the thread safety system and other core components of the PHP project, has quit in a relatively cryptic message to the php-internals mailing list. Jani has been involved with PHP for about 6 years and his loss will undoubtedly be a big blow for the PHP project."
Looks like someone may need to wrestle their account back
This looks like any 15 year old's "I won't be coming back here and you all suck" stormouts. The ones that happen each week, and he'll be back within a few hours.
Why is this on slashdot?
But that was at a php conference...
Why is it such a shock to some that a developer got burned out working on the same code. Open source developers are often not appreciated. A few get paid and many don't. Its just constant nagging for new features or bug fixes. There are rewarding aspects too. Maybe he wanted to do something with php that hasn't happened. He was involved with thread safety and that hasn't seemed important to many people. Personally I'd like to see thread safe php so I could play with some of the apache mpms...
MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
Maybe we should stop wondering about him. For all we know, he's got problems with other things in his life. Let's stop making assumptions about the poor guy. If I was Jani and saw all this psychoanalysis going on about me, I'd definitely tell whoever was doing it to shut the fuck up.
I make websites and stuff. Buy one.
Let me get this straight. People are making pretty nasty judgments based on one terse post that may or may not be legitimate. And in that moment we forget and discount everything he has done over the past six years.
As a volunteer he gave a great deal back to the world. You call him childish. I say he is entitled to walk away without having to explain himself.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
If they deliver the code and can keep the project together with their style, then can act how they want. Linus, RMS, Theo de Raadt - they have their quirks (Linus much less than the others), but the code speaks for itself.
Since you're going as far as to question Linus suitability for his job (architecting his hobby project that conquered the world) - where's your wildly succesful open source project?
I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
Bah! You're reading too much into his words. As I see it, what he's trying to say is that the reasons to him leaving are personal, but obvious for some poeple involved. Also, he does not want to start pointing fingers and does not feel he owes anybody an explanation. Perhaps you see this as behaving like a primadonna, but hardly hot-headed behaviour. He doesn't insult anybody in his post, although he obviously wants to and he refrains from whining about whatever he's unhappy about.
Lemon curry???
Lead developer for Zend engine of PHP quits... pandemonium and chaos ensue!
Please! Happens all the time; guy/gal works on project for a zillion years, sits down one day in front of their terminal, calls up the code, gives it a glance and goes: I can't freakin' do this anymore! I worked on one project for three years and it was blessed when I was finally released from my contract and moved on to other things. I was proud of the app, don't get me wrong, but if I had to finagle the code yet again for the umpteenth time, I was going to lose what remains of my mind.
Whatever the reason, he's gone. Move along... nothing to see here.
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
Burnout is a very commom symptom in all kinds of volunteer organisations, open source being one of the ones see more about on Slashdot.
The causes are quite straight-forward. When we do something for other people, we need some kind of reward. It can come in many forms - appreciation, money, reputation, status. The best rewards change over time and are a good mix of all these.
Open source projects consume people, with demands on their time, social life, professional capacity. The only rewards tend to be reputation. Depending on the invidual's personal life and other demands (family, job), they can sustain a heavy open source project for a few years, and as many as five or six. At some point, it either becomes a profession (with a wage) or a problem.
All volunteer organisations have this problem and it's exacerbated by peer pressure. If everyone else is spending 80 hours a week hacking, then it seems normal to spend 81. At some points, open source projects can seem like cults, and unintentionally adopt many cult techniques to keep people involved, whatever the personal cost.
(Those techniques include isolation from family, use of secret languages, separation from real time and real life, etc. I don't *think* any OS projects do this on purpose, though I have my secret doubts about the FSF. Just kidding, Richard!)
I've seen burnout cases so severe the persons involved were literally sick, unable to function normally any more, and needing psychiatric help. In other cases it's project-specific. I've had this on open source projects, where after five years I've just abandoned the software, telling the users, "sorry, it's not working any more".
Each person has different needs, but eventually if we don't get what we need, we get sick. Young people are especially vulnerable because they don't understand their own needs very well and neglect them easily.
The upside is that burnout is easily cured by a change of scene and some tangible rewards. Some people even come back to projects they've abandoned, but it can be very difficult. A good dose of selfishness ("what do I need in order to feel happy NOW") is always useful, and a good self-protection measure in many environments, open source groups included.
My blog
Maybe they don't have a problem following instructions.
He did explicitly say in no uncertain terms 'Do not reply to this email.'
Informatus Technologicus
Indeed.
However, which one of the four unarmed UN observers killed in the attack was a threat to Israel's existence or its people?
Still, someone would have a reason to make a fake irc log in this direction, which can only be done if they'd have a personal grudge against this guy. So if this log is not fake, then it's probably good for everyone that he quit, if it is fake, then it's also clear why there was an atmosphere for him to quit.
The fact that people reason like the one in this log is really shocking, but true. People didn't seem to have learned anything about that we really need to be careful judging people: Not all muslims are terrorists, not all jews are responsible of this action of the Israeli government. Not all people put on the blacklist by air marshalls are a threat for your country. Thinking in black/white contrasts is not only bad for others, it is also very bad for yourself!
molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
Come on mods. Copy and pasted IRC logs, posted without a referencing link, +5? Even if this DOES turn out to be from him, does this really need to be posted here on Slashdot?
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
What's he saying "hell yeah..." and "hehehehe.." to? It seems completely incongruous with the rest of his statements, unless something was left out.
Okay, you've accused him of:
All this from simply quitting and not wishing to be associated with a project any more? He didn't accuse anybody of anything, he didn't rant and rave, he said he was leaving and wasn't coming back. How is that anything like the attitude you describe?
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
The phrase "I could care less" is a sarcastic version of "I couldn't care less."
As a Brit, (a nation with arguably some of the best sarcasm/irony in comedy), I would say that I don't find it sarcastic in the least. It just sounds absurd and stupid.
So, if you're using it for sarcastic effect, don't bother.
Get your own free personal location tracker
I'm sorry, I respect people that act on principle.
Leaving something he clearly has had strong ties to as a point of principle is not a small matter.
I wouldn't ask someone to act against their conscience just to boost an open source project.
Hezbollah has seats in the Lebanon Government; therefore they are part of Lebanon. In addition, Hezbollah does take orders from their primary benefactors... that would be Iran in case you missed the memo.
Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon in compliance with a UN resolution; the so-called "Land for Peace" act. It was obviously a stupid move since Lebabon was not ready to assume control over their own country. Once they left, Hezbolla started assaulting Israel again.
Didn't you find it interesting that of the 1600+ missles that Hezbolla has launched at Israel since this more recent conflict has started, not a single one of them was launched at their military? Even when Israel was staging their tanks up on the border, making for a perfect and easy target, the Hezbollah missles continued to land in the population areas.
Hezobllah's stated goal is the death of every Jew. They preach a doctrine that the Holocaust of WWII is "a European lie and conspiracy to take land from the Arabs and Persians". There are, maybe 5 million Jew's in Israel and over 500 million gentiles around them that want them all dead. *THAT* is what they are defending themselves against.
Their actions are defensive and justified. If there is going to be peace, Hezbolla needs to stand down, disarm, and give back Lebanon to the Lebanese people.
As to these points from you:
Israel is bombing Lebanon "in order to save Israeli lives". Why are Israeli lives inherently more worth than Lebanese lives?
Nobody said they were, but Israel is defending its people from Hezbolla. That means war.
Why should we accept that Israel is murdering innocent people just to increase it's lebensraum?
Nice... a Nazi reference, that really makes your argument so much stronger.
And what "restraint" are you talking about? That they haven't been putting Arabs in gas chambers, yet? At this pace, they soon will!
Seriously! This is Poland 1939 all over again!
First, it is sickly ironic that you are talking about the gas chambers when most of the Middle East belives that it never happened in the first place.
Second, you are making wild assumptions about something Israel has not done and would never do. If you plan on being taken seriously, don't make arguments like this.
Since you're going as far as to question Linus suitability for his job (architecting his hobby project that conquered the world) - where's your wildly succesful open source project?
One needs a wildly successful open source project to criticize somebody's leadership of some other wildly successful open source project?
I suppose that one would also need to be the leader of a country with population of 300 million to criticize the job performance of the US president. Or perhaps be a highly respected engineer with specialty in safety to know that the Ford Pintos bursting into flame at the slightest provocation a couple decades ago wasn't a good thing.
Please.
Civilians are caught in the crossfire. That is horrible. But Israel is not purposely "attacking the civilian population" as you allege. Israel is attacking military targets that Hezbollah has purposly intermingled amongst civilians. In fact, Israel has taken pains to inform civilians (and thereby tip off Hezbollah too) before attacks by dropping leaflets that basically say "We know there is a Hezbollah ammo dump here, flee now because we will attack soon". Hezbollah purposely endangers the civilans in Lebanon by hiding amongst them. It does this to 1) make the Israelis pause and be reluctant to immediately attack, and 2) when the Israelis do attack, Hezbollah wants to increase the civilian bodycount so they can say "See all the civilans Israel killed!".
If you want to talk about purposely "Attacking Civilians", then you should be pointing the finger at Hezbollah. They are lobbing unguided missles at Isreali cities. When they launch a missle, they can't tell in advance where it will land other than somewhere inside a city. This is indiscrimate bombing of a civlian population.
No state, including Israel, can tolerate either unprovoked attacks on its military or any attack at all on its civilian population. Hezbollah is not a state. It has no sovereign right to maintain an army or make war. Those are rights restricted to states. Any armed action at all by Hezbollah is illegal. Even if it had the right to maintain an army (which it does not) it engages in tactics that are forbidden by international law (hiding amongst civilians, purposely attacking civilians, etc). It's military arm exists for two illegal reasons : threaten Israel and intimidate other Lebanese.
If Israel stops before Hezbollah is either disarmed or destroyed, it will have a continuing military threat on its border; a threat that indiscriminatly attacks its civilian population. No reasonable state will tolerate that as an end solution.
Here is they way this should play out. The UN has already ordered Hezbollah to disarm. See UN resolution 1559. The resoluation calls for removal of Syrian troops (done), deployment of Lebanese Gov't forces in southern Lebanon, and disbanding of all Lebanese militias (meaning Hezbollah since they are the only one left). Hezbollah has refused to disband and has blocked deployment of the Lebanese Army (Hezbollah is stronger). For resolutation 1559 to be carried out, Hezbollah will have to be forecebly disarmed (by Lebanon [not going to happen], by a UN force [too squimish to happen], or by Israel [now you see what is going on]. Once Hezbollah is disarmed or distroyed, then a new stronger UN force (current UN force is a joke) or NATO force will occupy southern lebanon, and allow the Israelis to withdraw. Once the Israelis (and Hezbollah) are gone, then the Lebanese Army and Police will deploy into the south and secure the border. This is the only long term solution for peace. An immediate cease-fire and return to status-quo-ante is only a recipe for continued periodic warfare. Hezbollah must disarm or be destroyed for long term peace to have a chance.
I was part of the peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. Several of my "co-workers" were killed in very deliberate attacks against US and UN forces. However, if I came home and said that I wanted to join Aryan Nations to kill me some black people, I'd be (rightfully) shunned from polite society.
I can empathize with Jani, probably more than can 99.9% of Slashdotters, but that doesn't make his outburst acceptable. Understandable, sure, but acceptable.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
If it's true, that's a nice little bit of anti-Semitism at the end. He may want to be anti-Israel, but he's just exposed himself as a garden-variety anti-Semite, too.
Writing as a fellow Finn, I can assure you that most people here don't know the difference between Jews and Israel. I'm sure Jani only has hard opinions against the government and the politics of the Israel state.
Furthermore, I really think that the anti-semitist card has been used for far too long already. Hitler did a horrible crime against Jews but Israel shouldn't use that to gain political advantage any more. Israel is not the weak little victim in this conflict.
Israel was able to make peace with Egypt and Jordan. They returned captured land, the Sinai, when Egypt recognized Israel's right to exist. I believe Syria is refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist and thus isn't getting the Golan Hights back until they do.
Hamas doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist, either, so they get they ass handed to them on a plate.
Gotta love the Arab argument about willing to live with Israel at the 1967 borders -- AFTER they lost three wars with them. Had they been so willing in 1967, none of this would be an issue.
Charles
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
"At 9:05 AM local time (06:05 CET), on 12 July 2006, Hezbollah initiated a Katyusha rocket and mortar attack on Israeli military positions and villages of northern Israel, injuring at least 8 Israelis[18]. Afterwards, a ground contingent of Hezbollah militants attacked two Israeli armored Humvees on a routine patrol along the Israel-Lebanon border near the Israeli village of Zar'it with anti-tank rockets, capturing two Israeli soldiers, and killing eight." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Israel-Lebanon_ conflict)
But it supports your position a lot better to pretend that all they did was capture a couple soldiers, and Israel started the whole thing, right?
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
I think many of you guys need to readjust your sense of proportionality. This guy has most likely done more to both world peace _and_ open source world than 99% of the whiners on this forum.. and now you are mocking him for not revealing some interpersonal issues and saying ill-considered things in chat *once* when obviously being out of his mind.
Consider this. That guy has
1) worked deeply on a project for six years and has just made a decision to quit it,
2) has just lost a coworker in a bit questionable series of events,
3) is obviously depressed or burned out or both,
4) is constantly under threat while serving in hostile country with no infrastructure of whatsoever and having to remain calm and peaceful while in desperate situation and underpowered,
5) has had harder than normal time in service past six months and
6) people are blaming you for not answering their *software project* emails fast enough, when you have been busy with things 4 and 5.
If you can say you have experienced even *half* of these, let alone simultaneously and are willing to come up and admit it, *then* I can take you seriously when you come and say that you didn't say anything unprintable in that situation. Maybe.
And also remember: english is not his native language. It's more than a bit hypocritical to judge someone you have not even met by his writing in *chat* in *foreign language*, especially when the chat log is spread without his consent by someone who is not willing to reveal his name, nor the context of the discussion.
http://iki.fi/zds/
Sad if it's about the current war in the ME. Nationalisim is basically nothing more than a mass-psychosis, with fanatisim and fundametalisim being the extremer variants. Conducted by a few who know each other well to have millions of people who don't know each other compete or fight.
You'd expect a high profile OSS dev intelligent enough to shake it.
The ones that deserve to be shot are Nasralla, some back-room Zionists and a few old-school fanatic muslims in Gaza and Syria. The rest would get along quite well actually. Just the other day I saw a newsfeed where an israeli arab (sitting in a cafe with his jewish friend) hit it on the spot (paraphrased): "It's allways gouverments and organisations fighting. The common people just what to live in peace, sip their cafe and play backgammon. Jews, Muslims and whomever else."
True that is.
Let's hope this crap is over soon and the maniacs fit's come to an end.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca