[mdlug] Systemd Should Be A Fork -- Why Is It Not?

[A. Zimmer]

On Tue, 1 Sep 2015 23:35:05 -0400
Gregory Czerniak <gregczrk at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> According to Revolution OS, https://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html,
> and https://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.en.html , RMS started GNU not
> because of the Unix wars, 
>

Whatever.  But Stallman still is a strong advocate of software freedom
in spite of the fact that he looks like an antiquated clown doing it.
For example, he often boasts that he owns no cell phone and refers to
smart phone technology as "Stalin's dream."  This kind of attitude could
never endear him to the common folk.

But where would we be today without Stallman? 

Most would be sitting in front of a dumb terminal interminably linked to
Microsoft/Apple servers while partaking of their insipid and banal offerings
for which they will pay a hefty subscription in perpetuity.


> 
> A study done in 2014 (
> http://www.infoworld.com/article/2610207/
>
> found that more than 80 percent of Linux patches are written by people
> being paid for their work by corporations.
>

InfoWorld obviously needs the clicks and the money and so they keep
proffering this kind of fluff to all comers.

Whoever writes the patches is irrelevant.  Torvalds has the authority
to accept or reject and if the code does not conform to his egalitarian
principles he'll toss it regardless of how much bucks were paid to
produce it.

Recently, it was proposed that the Linux kernel be purged of support for
a certain legacy bus protocol.  When Torvalds discovered that some
users of this bus still existed he nixed the idea.  The code remains
a part of the kernel.

It is also interesting to suppose what might happen if Torvalds ever
stepped down from his position as absolute leader.  I have no doubt
that the Linux kernel would be quickly corrupted by selfish parties
with narrow agendas (like systemd).


>
> Programmers need money to pay the bills and feed their children -- without
> money, you get people's spare time if you're lucky.
> 

I was asked recently to rewrite the PBM/PGM/PPM file input/output code
for the development version of the GIMP.  (The current code is limited
to 8-bit files and does not include the latest HDR capabilities of the
PNM and PAM formats.)

Unfortuantely, I was too preoccupied with other things to be able to
participate, but I was quite tempted nonetheless.

All I can say is f*** the money.  If I were not encumbered with practical
matters at the moment I would likely seize the opportunity to create
the best and most comprehensive code possible (even though the task itself
is of minor importance). 

Commercial programmers would doubtless advise against it.  After all, the
PNM image format is not very widely used (no "market share" to use the
common buzzwords) and it would be a waste of time and resources. 

But the open source spirit says that the PNM format can be a valuable
addition and, even for the sake of completeness alone, should be thoroughly
supported.  Even if only a small few will ever use it, PNM should be
included with the highest of comprehensiveness and quality.


> 
> Linux maintainers pour blood, sweat, and tears daily to make sure your OS
> is stable, well-documented, and secure.  They are often repaid with nothing
> but ingratitude by the community.
>

But when the going gets tough, the tough get going and completely sell
out the Linux community to the interests of a few.

Even Gentoo Linux, which still offers alternatives to systemd, may
have motives that are not purely noble.  AFAIK, it seems that their
continued development of the OpenRC init scripts depends on certain
corporate sponsorship.  I could be wrong, but if this sponsorship
vanishes then so too will OpenRC.

They should not pretend.  Let them be brave and proudly proclaim that
they are cowardly lackeys.


>
>  Lennart Poettering has received death
> threats serious enough that he turned them over to the FBI.
>

Gee, I wonder why.

He obviously misunderstood the metaphors involved in such "threats"
but his narcissism and vanity compelled him to contact the authorities.
After all, in his mind, only innovative geniuses are targeted for
destruction.



>
> Do you really
> think most people would stick around these toxic developer communities if
> they weren't being paid?
> 

Compensation can be in other forms besides money.  The personal satisfaction of
doing the right thing in spite of external opposition is often a sufficient
reward.

But, we must admit, those Linux maintainers who so easily bowed to the whims
of the systemd clique are not doing the right thing.