this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2023
239 points (98.8% liked)

Linux

48310 readers
645 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

At Open Source Summit Japan, Linux and Git creator Linus Torvalds talked about Rust in Linux, Linux maintainer fatigue, and AI's future role in Linux and open-source development.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah… rust in the kernel scares me. Lol they are already worried about not having enough contributors, so…?

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 20 points 11 months ago

they = rust or the linux kernel?

The linux kernel doesn't have enough contributors because it's really difficult + the entire organisational side of it works on antique tech (IRC and mailinglists). The majority of the project itself is also in C which has a horrible developer experience: linting, documentation, debugging, code completion, and the lack of a proper IDE. The entire development cycle is convoluted. How do you seriously want to attract people to the project if everything looks like it's still in a development cycle of the 90s?

If I were to discover a one-line bug in the kernel by reading it, actually testing the one-line fix would take me, as a newbie probably a solid week. Getting it into the kernel itself would probably take even longer.

The kernel is also known for Linus' outbursts and being filled with neckbeard elitists. The project in my eyes has an image problem.

As for rust, if that's what you meant, I'd be interested in knowing the source for not having enough contributors.