Re: [Ksummit-discuss] [MAINTAINER SUMMIT] Are we becoming too fearful? [was Re: [TECH TOPIC] Rust]

From: Linus Walleij <linus.walleij@linaro.org>
To: James Bottomley <James.Bottomley@hansenpartnership.com>
Cc: Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@ideasonboard.com>,
	Jens Axboe <axboe@kernel.dk>,
	 Christoph Hellwig <hch@infradead.org>,
	Miguel Ojeda <miguel.ojeda.sandonis@gmail.com>,
	 ksummit@lists.linux.dev,
	ksummit <ksummit-discuss@lists.linuxfoundation.org>
Subject: Re: [Ksummit-discuss] [MAINTAINER SUMMIT] Are we becoming too fearful? [was Re: [TECH TOPIC] Rust]
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2022 11:59:03 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <CACRpkdZ9GR=nH6QHhRC7xg1jnr1UJ1BDM+P28V2VWa+uPO0DrQ@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <ca6243160b36aa42f4d0ad23853b84e57ca366f1.camel@HansenPartnership.com>

On Sun, Jun 19, 2022 at 4:45 PM James Bottomley
<James.Bottomley@hansenpartnership.com> wrote:

> I think there's a growing problem in Linux which is exemplified by this
> Rust debate but which goes way beyond it: We're becoming too fearful of
> making big decisions to sustain innovation in some areas.

I agree.

> This really
> is a creeping cancer of inertia that has destroyed many projects before
> us and if we're not careful, we'll go the same way.

Strong words. This phenomenon is known from organization theory.
Organization theory exist in dry and tasteless versions and some more
colorful and spicy versions. Let's revisit the most spicy and colorful of
them all, Cyril Norhcote Parkinson, a true representative of the
atomic space age.

In his famous book "Parkinson's Law" from 1957 (a book passed to
me from my great grandfather, and annoyingly relevant to this day),
in the last chapter titled "Pension point, or the age of retirement" he
touches on the subject. There might be an illicit copy here, page 42:
http://sas2.elte.hu/tg/ptorv/Parkinson-s-Law.pdf

Parkinson is writing satire and it is a clear hyperbole. But it isn't funny
if it isn't relevant. He saw the same thing as you see, and just
state (apparently based on nothing but his own experience) that a
persons "age of wisdom" is followed by the "age of obstruction".
Just constant risk avoidance. Blaeh. Boring.

I don't know about eBPF, but Rust is nice. Let's merge it and see what
happens. As one of my friends working in embedded systems said:
"this is the only new thing I have seen in my career, the rest is just
repetitions of the past", and I agree with that.

My biggest worry is that the kernel community can become irrelevant
for young people as a demographic. Young people like things like
Rust and web-based merge requests on github. They are also very
smart. So I see it as partly an inclusion problem.

Yours,
Linus Walleij