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Aging Linux Kernel Community Is Looking For Younger Participants
Lemeowski writes "Time has been good to Linux and the kernel community, with the level of participation and volume of activity reaching unprecedented levels. But as core Linux kernel developers grow older, there's a very real concern about ensuring younger generations are getting involved. In this post, Open Access supporter Luis Ibanez shares some exciting stats about recent releases of the Linux kernel, but also warns that 'Maintaining the vitality of this large community does not happen spontaneously. On the contrary, it requires dedication and attention by community members on how to bring new contributors on board, and how to train them and integrate them alongside the well-established developers.'"
there's no way in hell I'd ever try to contribute upstream, because I know I'm not an experienced kernel hacker, and frankly I'm not sewn for the sort of macho abuse that dorks like to give each other.
Sounds like a matter of perception. Linus yells at the people high up in the hierarchy because they are experienced and shouldn't be making dumb mistakes - right or wrong you aren't likely to get on the wrong end of that. As a newbie contributor any work you would do would go through a couple of levels of people vetting it for you. If you make dumb mistakes chances are the person who notices them will be a lot more gentle in pointing them out because dealing with newbies is part of the role in the hierarchy. No system is perfect, I'm sure there are some newbies who have received overly harsh responses, but that's going to be rare.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
There is: http://kernelnewbies.org/
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
I have contributed some bug reports and fixes to LKML and I have yet to encounter anything other than a terse but helpful and friendly nature amongst those that picked up my reports and directly communicated with me to fix the code. The only people who get reamed on LKML or get a middle finger are the ones that do egregiously foolish things and should know better. Linux is a massive project that spans thousands of cultures and subcultures in the meatspace department, and there is no time at all to address every error with compliment sandwiches and a facade of "bless your heart" pseudo-kindness.
"Show me the code" is the mantra. If your code is shit and you're new, you'll be politely pointed at a resource such as the coding style guide or KernelNewbies to correct it. If your code is shit and you manage a whole kernel subsystem, you can expect to be told "your code is shit and you know better!" by Linus directly, because....get this: you tried to feed shit code into the kernel (which hurts everyone else because they ALL have to maintain your code down the line) and you're high enough on the food chain that you know better.
I've been working on the Linux kernel for 10 years with numerous commits upstream, and I've never communicated with Linus.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart