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The New Yorker has its own story about Linus Torvalds temporarily stepping down from his post as maintainer of the Linux kernel:
After Years of Abusive E-mails, the Creator of Linux Steps Aside (archive)
Torvalds's decision to step aside came after The New Yorker asked him a series of questions about his conduct for a story on complaints about his abusive behavior discouraging women from working as Linux-kernel programmers. In a response to The New Yorker, Torvalds said, "I am very proud of the Linux code that I invented and the impact it has had on the world. I am not, however, always proud of my inability to communicate well with others—this is a lifelong struggle for me. To anyone whose feelings I have hurt, I am deeply sorry."
[...] Linux's élite developers, who are overwhelmingly male, tend to share their leader's aggressive self-confidence. There are very few women among the most prolific contributors, though the foundation and researchers estimate that roughly ten per cent of all Linux coders are women. "Everyone in tech knows about it, but Linus gets a pass," Megan Squire, a computer-science professor at Elon University, told me, referring to Torvalds's abusive behavior. "He's built up this cult of personality, this cult of importance."
For a research project, Squire used e-mails from Torvalds to train a computer to recognize insults. According to Squire's tabulations, more than a thousand of the twenty-one thousand e-mails Torvalds sent in a four-year period used the word "crap." "Slut," "bitch," and "bastard" were employed much less frequently during that period. Squire told me that she found few examples of gender bias. "He is an equal-opportunity abuser," she said. Squire added, though, that for non-male programmers the hostility and public humiliation is more isolating. Over time, many women programmers leave the community. "Women throw in the towel first," she told me. "They say, 'Why do I need to put up with this?' "
[...] Many women who contribute to Linux point to another open-source project, Python, as a guide for Linux as its faces its #MeToo moment.
Two Linux kernel developers turned diversity consultants are quoted in the story: Sage Sharp and Valerie Aurora. The New Yorker points out that the Linux Foundation's ten-member Technical Advisory Board will hear behavioral complaints, and all of the members are male.
Meanwhile, many people in the Linux community are upset about the move to adopt a Code of Conduct (CoC). Some of that discussion is taking place on the GitHub commit page for the CoC.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by urza9814 on Thursday September 20 2018, @04:07PM (27 children)
Mixed feelings on this stuff. On the one hand...this probably *is* the right way to do "diversity", compared to the "different colored clones" that most corporations do. Hiring more women but forcing them to adopt more typically masculine behavior in order to get ahead is NOT diversity. You've gotta change the management style, not just the hiring practices, otherwise you're going to end up with a "diverse" group who still keeps pushing the exact same ideas as the old group. Except with a worse implementation, because you're hiring based on appearance rather than skill.
On the other hand...it's Linus's project. He created it, it's friggin named after him even, so why shouldn't he be allowed to run it as he chooses? He's not employing people to write this code (other companies are, but pretty sure Linus himself is not;) it's all contributed voluntarily. If you don't like it, don't contribute. Fork it and see how far you can get without him. It's one thing to say that you shouldn't have to endure "abuse" as a condition of employment, but when you're doing it voluntarily it's hard to have all that much sympathy really....
On an unrelated note...when the fuck did "crap" become "abusive"?? I always thought that was the child-friendly replacement word for "shit". Ranks right up there with "Aww, shucks"...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @04:23PM (1 child)
Interviewer: You're acting like a douche.
Torvalds: But it's my project.
Interviewer: Does your project require douchines?
Torvalds: You mean, is it a technical requirement?
Interviewer: Yes, is it a technical requirement?
Torvalds: Um .. no.
Interviewer: So you acting like a douche has nothing to do with your project and everything to do with you acting like a douche?
Torvalds: Fuck you, it's my project.
Interviewer: Have you met Elon Musk?
Torvalds: Yes I have. Now he's a douche.
Interviewer: Really? He says it's OK because it's his company.
Torvalds: He's still a douche.
Interviewer: I just got a text "Pot, meet kettle".
Torvalds: But it's my project.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday September 21 2018, @06:55AM
Well, it's not a technical requirement, but it's *my* project. If I'm a douche, well, then *my* project is gonna have roughly that much douchiness in it, because it's, well, *mine*. Musk can't do that because his project is a public company, so the shareholders and board of directors get to vote on how douchy he gets to be.
See? Don't you feel cleaner already?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @04:25PM (1 child)
Although Linus is apparently worth $150 million so he is not starved for cash, the Linux Foundation employs him. They could cut him off if he got too rowdy or "toxic". And of course, the project can be forked, with no shortage of Google, Intel, and even Microsoft coders to throw at it and continue development Linus-free.
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday September 21 2018, @10:31AM
Toxicity ain't a bad thing. The goal is to find something toxic to unwanted organisms but harmless to those you want around. You know, like Purell. Linus's behavior has accomplished that goal pretty well up until now.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by insanumingenium on Thursday September 20 2018, @04:41PM (8 children)
Well probably when he says "your code is crap". You can make any word abusive with the right context. "Your immaculate code stopped the build, again!", see immaculate is now abusive, and Catholic churches everywhere must rename or risk being labeled abusive institutions. Oh wait, that isn't how this works, that isn't how any of this works.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @04:52PM (7 children)
That is the stupidest equivalence I have ever seen. "You should have been aborted" is a not something anyone would debate on whether it is offensive or not. I look forward to the day when we move past this PC crap and everyone just ostracizes the insanely offensive people. Don't worry, nothing will be lost because those toxic people will either make their own projects or tone down their offensiveness once they realize it has actual consequences for their lives.
Linus is in a rather unique position, and anyone who idolizes such behavior is likely going to have a much worse life. Just see the resident spam troll who complains about open source and getting jobs, but displays so many toxic characteristics that no one is surprised they haven't been hired.
So again, hopefully we get past this super-sensitive time in history and we all move on to just ignoring the loudmouth assholes. Save the outrage for when it is deserved instead of hopping all over every instance of a "bad word" being used, and just exclude the toxic trolls.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @05:32PM (5 children)
My kernel my choice. You're offending people who have had abortions by implying abortion is ungood.
Reported for CoC violation, enjoy being
blacklistedpersonofcolorlisted, bigot.That's offensive against the differently abled mentally. Perhaps not to you, but several of your friends feel that way.
That kind of language is offensive against those of us who lack the privilege of vision like you, bigot. Please use "I stumble forward" instead.
Excuse me? As a linusian I find it incredibly offensive you'd say that worshipping Our Lord and Saviour Linus Torvalds leads to a bad life.
Wow. Now you're offending those of us who gained superpowers through an accident with radioactive toxic materials. It's 2018, toxicphobia has to end.
As a troll this kind of violent anti-troll language is what keeps many of us away from the industry.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @06:22PM (4 children)
The irony here is you super sensitive little snowflakes are exhibiting the EXACT same behavior as the super serious SJW types you rail against, except instead of "be nice" your rallying call is "let me be an asshole with zero consequences".
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @08:03PM (1 child)
You must be new here.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:01PM
Some snowflakes react by crying like babies about someone being mean, others react by trying to bully their way past it and claim superiority. Sensitive little snowflakes no matter which. Too bad so many soylentils have zero self awareness.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:43PM
Says the faggot who doesn't know that "snowflakes" is not a reversible term; it applies to SJW cucks like xirself only.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:06AM
Don’t apply my rules against me!!!! Otherwise you become me!!11!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:16PM
That quote is worth a mod point. Thank you, AC!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 20 2018, @06:42PM (4 children)
If you don't like it, don't contribute.
People who don't like assholes are the majority. What happens when the majority of people who can help choose not to?
(Score: 5, Touché) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @06:48PM (1 child)
They weren't about two years ago. :-)
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @07:47PM
If, by chance, you are referring to Der Drumpf I will just point out--especially because it is widely-known to get under his thin skin--that even though he won the Electoral College he did not get the popular vote.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by urza9814 on Thursday September 20 2018, @06:53PM
Then someone starts a new fork and everyone goes there and the existing one dies. That's not a bug, it's a feature.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @08:01PM
(Score: 4, Interesting) by jmorris on Thursday September 20 2018, @07:27PM (2 children)
Isn't that exactly what the "diversity" game boils down to? People of every ethnic background and favored perversion coming together to think exactly alike? Because diversity of thought is the forbidden diversity, except when it isn't of course. One must be carefully trained in diversity studies and tract $current_year sensibilities most exactly to know the current rules.
Translation: Women are just as good as men, and once you remake your processes from top to bottom we will demonstrate that, but until then the fact almost every woman in tech turns out to be a diversity coordinator in the making is pure coincidence.
Sorry snowflakes, if you can't do the work, don't tell those who can how to do it.
It really is a bogus thing anyway. Linus generally flames friends when they have screwed up. It is his way of both venting and drawing a line in the sand. Most of the people getting flamed have been working with him for a decade or more and they all try to meet up in meatspace often enough to hash out real problems face to face. I think we all realize that kind of thing would be seen entirely different in some cultures but hackerdom at those elite levels is a white male thing except for a few Asians who work on that level. Linus appears to know about the cultural difference there though because I can't recall him ever lighting up an Asian contributor. And for that matter, there was a time when Aurora contributed actual code instead of politics and she never pulled flames either. Maybe that is why she is butthurt, the failure to be treated as an equal? Ya really can't win with identity politics.
But this isn't about any of that anyway. It is Intel, Google, etc. chasing off the one obstacle to a stable binary kernel interface. Being SJW infected themselves they don't realize the danger of allying themselves with the lunatics to get rid of their problem.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:33PM (1 child)
Why would Google care about stable binary interfaces? Google builds walled gardens where they reserve the right to come in and rearrange the furniture whenever they want. As for Intel, they might have some interest w.r.t. x86 lock-in, but then again they already have Windows for that.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by jmorris on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:12PM
So they can kill Linux and wear its skin. Linux appearing from nowhere and upsetting the established order is not something that is going to be permitted to happen again. Close the device driver layers and close access to hardware information and Linux can stay out in a git repo forever and they won't care because it is dead and there will never be another; meanwhile the residual illusion of freedom will be helpful while it lasts. *BSD would also be dead since they look at the Linux sources to discover how hardware works and write a driver. With DRM lockdown and TPM they could really get nasty. Encrypt the modules and only allow signed kernels to receive the keys from the TPM to unlock them. Game. Over.
Notice the massive censorship that is going on right now? Apple going full censorship, Google / Youtube tossing off million plus subscriber broadcasters without a care, Facebook banhammering like the world was ending if they slack, Twitter, etc. The EU wants the memes silenced entirely. It is all being driven by the same fear, people are breaking the conditioning, slowly realizing pretty much everything they thought they knew was a lie. To nail it all back down they must eliminate any possibility of knowledge leaking past the controls. Uncontrolled hardware running uncontrolled operating systems make that an impossibility. We would build mesh networks, dark Internets, whatever it takes to evade the censors. It all must be brought under central control. Before we will smash the central controllers.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by turgid on Thursday September 20 2018, @08:15PM (5 children)
Why is it labeled "typically masculine behaviour?" None of my male friends behave like that, and I hope I don't either.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:21PM
Typical effeminate response.
(Score: 3, Informative) by mrpg on Friday September 21 2018, @02:14AM (3 children)
Maybe it's not typical but it's more common in men. At least in men that don't know how to control themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone [wikipedia.org]
Testosterone produces aggression by activating subcortical areas in the brain, which may also be inhibited or suppressed by social norms or familial situations while still manifesting in diverse intensities and ways through thoughts, anger, verbal aggression, competition, dominance and physical violence
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday September 21 2018, @10:42AM (2 children)
Pretty much all men in the workplace know how to control themselves. You can tell by the lack of them shooting up the place on a regular basis or even fighting. Men are not the problem. Women entering environments with the codes of behavior already sorted out and wanting to change them to their liking is. That's not equality they're asking for, that's privilege.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by mrpg on Friday September 21 2018, @05:33PM (1 child)
Pretty much all men, not all, those are the problem.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday September 21 2018, @09:19PM
History of who has been persecuted under the SJW flag puts a lie to that statement. The majority of those sacrificed on the social justice altar have been nothing out of the ordinary for the male gender. Again, equality is not what is being asked for; special consideration (utterly changing the way men work within a group) is. That's not equality, that's privilege.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.