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The GNU project was officially announced on 27 September 1983 by Richard Stallman. Thirty-five years of a project that has now become the fundamental building block of everything we use and see in technology in 2018. I would not be wrong to say that there isn't a single proprietary piece of software that anyone is still using from 35 years ago – please post comments if there is something still being used.
There is only one reason for this longevity: the GNU project was built upon the premise that the code is available to anyone, anywhere with the only restriction that whatever is done to the code, it shall always be available to anyone, forever. Richard Stallman's genius in crafting the copyleft license that is the GNU General Public License is probably the best hack of the 20th century software industry.
Extra: Happy Birthday, GNU: Why I still love GNU 35 years later
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday September 28 2018, @08:18PM (1 child)
1. It's entirely possible to use an unpatched vanilla Linux kernel without systemd. If you compile your own kernel, the help sections for the relevant options will even helpfully point out exactly what you can turn off to make systemd impossible to run on your system, but the system will run just fine on sysvinit or upstart or openRC with those options enabled. The work you're referring to is in userspace (e.g. undoing the reliance of key system utilities on systemd's crappy binary logging system), not the kernel. So from a technical standpoint, you do not appear to have the slightest clue what you're talking about.
2. Even if that were completely true, you'd still have the right and the ability to fork the kernel. My simple "pull in whatever happens to the mainline kernel" is just one way of handling the maintenance if you're understaffed. You could, of course, pull in the mainline kernel to a branch, evaluate and/or eliminate the patchset to your heart's content, and keep only what you like.
From your statements, I think it's safe to assume that you are not a kernel contributor, and thus not affected by any kernel contributor code of conduct in any way whatsoever. You are unwilling to fork off the code now before any "more and harder-to-counter architectural damage" occurs, and are unwilling to create your own version of the OS that is presumably without this architectural damage because it's too much work. I'm going to suggest that your concerns have nothing at all to technical issues and everything to do with the fear that your chosen hobby or profession isn't a place where you can do whatever you want.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 28 2018, @09:11PM
When I say "system" and you bloviate about kernel it's disingenuous at best. From a technical standpoint.
But when you start telling me how I'm "not affected" by how and by whom the kernel of the OS that I run is made - you get firmly into the realm of the crazy. Go tell Windows users they're "not affected" by the consequences of architectural decisions within MS.
Please do not insult anyone's intelligence here with such ham-fisted rhetoric. Thanks.