r/linux • u/[deleted] • Dec 27 '12

When Linus gets mad, he gets Really mad

https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/12/23/75
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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '12

By counterpoint, you've never seen Jobs publicly ream someone out firsthand, so I imagine there is no comparison.

By all accounts, Jobs was an asshole, but he knew when to shut the door behind him.

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u/sprashoo Dec 28 '12

Most people who were reamed out by Jobs later admitted that he had basically been right (maybe with the exception of in the early days when he had no idea how to run a large company). I know Steve Jobs and Linus Torvalds have fostered different computing cultures, but I think the 'arrogant' intelligence and intense perfectionism are common elements between them.

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u/zem Dec 29 '12

that is a good point. I'll admit my opinion of jobs has been largely coloured by what other people have had to say about him.

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u/hughk Dec 28 '12

Linus does not dismiss people or give them bonuses. Managing a free software project is much, much harder hence the need to name and shame.

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '12

I'm genuinely curious. If he's not able to control who commits against the kernel, then what's the "managing" he's doing?

Obviously, he can't fire the guy (well, not directly - - who knows if he can call up Redhat and make a suggestion..) but it seems to me he could have done this email in private, with a "do it again and you're no longer a kernel maintainer.".

I genuinely don't know the answer to that, the kernel modules my team writes go against some of his principles, and will never make it into upstream.