Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
Kent West wrote:Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:Hi, I don't really think this is OT, albeit not directly Debian related.Con Kolivas, the kernel hacker who authored a better scheduler, recently decided to quit.Loss for Linux (and Linus) Here's his reasoning.http://apcmag.com/6735/interview_con_kolivasIt'd be nice if a coder of Con's caliber were to get interested in the HURD. I think that project has a lot of potential, but I'm afeared it has little future without some motivated developers.Con is a terrific kernel hacker (judged from the results). What got him was the kernel decision making process, if you call it that.His quitting isn't going to fix that.If anything fixes it at all it is sticking with it: people with his kind of ability are sorely needed, as you note...
Yes, I'd rather he stick with the Linux kernel and make improvements there, since it's what all of us are currently using, but if he's not going to stay with Linux kernel-hacking, he could get some of the same feel for kernel-hacking[1], without so much of the kernel politics, by working on the Hurd, and maybe eventually (not anytime foreseeable I'm afraid) we could move from Linux to the Hurd for our Debian fix. I'm a great believer in modularity (while realizing that integration has its place, too), and think the Hurd could lead to some great things in Debian's future.
Footnotes:1. At least, it's my understanding that hacking on Hurd servers is similar to hacking on the Linux kernel, and because of the Hurd's modular nature such hacking is relatively free of politics. But that's just my impression as a non-coder looking briefly at the Hurd through a window as I walk by.
===At any rate, public thanks to Con for the work he has provided, and to all the developers who make Debian possible (even if there's still room for improvement).
-- Kent