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Linus Torvalds Got Confused About 'When and Where' Maintainer's Summit Is Going To be Held, So Organizers Moved the Entire Conference (linuxfoundation.org)

Posted by msmash on from the what-choices-did-they-have-really? dept.

From The Linux Foundation's mailing list: Last Friday (just before Labor Day) I learned that Linus had gotten confused about when and where the Maintainer's Summit was going to be held this year. And most unfortunately, he has already scheduled a family vacation overlapping with the week of the Maintainer's Summit. Over the weekend, I've been conferring with folks from the Linux Foundation, Linus, and the Maintainer's / Kernel Summit program committee. We explored a lot of options, but ultimately there were only two choices that were workable:
1) Have the Maintainer's Summit in Vancouver, without Linus.
2) Move the Maintainer's Summit to Edinburgh, with Linus.

Curiously enough, Linus suggested option #1. And while holding the Maintainer's Summit without Linus might be an interesting experiment, ultimately, the Program Committee had a strong consensus that moving it Summit to Edinburgh was the better option.

This means that the Maintainer's Summit will take place in Edinburgh, on Monday afternoon, October 22nd. As a reminder, the Maintainer's Summit is an invite-only workshop, with ~30 people attending. The focus of the Maintainer's Summit is process and development issues, *not* technical issues. The Kernel Summit track will still be held in Vancouver alongside Plumber's. Technical discussions will take place there; we simply won't have the time, or necessarily, the right people, to have technical discussions at the Maintainer's Summit.

8 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why not the USA by wed128 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ubiquitous surveillance during your stay

    because *that* doesn't exist in the UK

  2. He gave them two hints ... by perpenso · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He gave them two hints:
    (1) I got my dates mixed up and I cannot attend due to prior commitments.
    (2) Don't reschedule, just carry on without me.

    Don't you guys get it? He may want the community to be less dependent, more able to stand on its own, not need the hand holding.

    1. Re:He gave them two hints ... by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree with this assessment - and I think summit organizers made a mistake here. Linus isn't going to live forever, and if Linux is going to survive without him, the kernel maintainers need to learn to work without Linus.

      Maybe next year he should just tell them, "I'm delegating decisions to these persons and taking a three week hiatus, have at."

      --
      Finding God in a Dog
    2. Re:He gave them two hints ... by Shinobi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Quite a lot of people fail to appreciate just how bad, and how sudden, burnout can be. How you can go from something you love one month, and the next month, you suddenly start feeling physically ill while doing it. You lose what spark drove you and everything starts to become by rote. You start to only care about getting it done, no matter how, instead of getting it done right/safe, for example.

      Note, I'm not talking about Linus here, but in general. A colleague of mine went from loving what he was doing, to noticing that he was just starting the trend of going through the motions, so he quickly decided that either he could continue working in the field, with a diminishing spark, or he could keep coding as a hobby, and perhaps, in the long run, retain the spark. He chose to keep it as a hobby, and is now switching career.

  3. Re: Why not the USA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A bit like asking "why not Germany?" in the late 30s

  4. Re: Why not the USA by fredrated · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Right Wing in America stands for exactly what the nazis stood for.

  5. Re:Memory issues... by malkavian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, move a workshop that's invite only for 30 people, and not to do with the technical side. Linus says don't bother, you're fine without me. The rest basically vote "Nah, we'd like to come see you", and people complain?
    Sounds like great cameraderie on that committee, and I really hope they enjoy themselves. Edinburgh is a lovely city, and the Scots are great people.. They'll be shown a warm welcome, and have the chance to wander around the area if they choose to. Which is a great way to go sightseeing, and throw in a little business on the side.

  6. No big deal. by Qbertino · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously. The lead has an appointment clash. Whatever the reason.

    Of course the crew adjusts. This is SOP in every team.

    On top of that, Linus isn't just some mid-range lead in a kinda so so software team.

    This is the kernel and he basically has demigod status and for good reasons too, so I presume the crew is happy to adjust.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca