Alan Cox [interview] posted a tiny patch to the lkml removing himself as maintainer of a couple of older/defunct drivers, adding, "Update other stuff because I will be away for a year". I scrambled for a Welsh translator to see what I'd been missing in his diary, but found no hints there. Fortunately a few minutes later he followed up with an explanation:
"At the end of September I'm off back to University on a years sabbatical from Red Hat to study for an MBA. I've made the decision that I'm basically going to vanish for the year so I can concentrate on the course, and on the pet side project of learning Welsh."
The 2.2 kernel that Alan maintained for several years now "needs a new maintainer, someone who can spend their entire life refusing patches, being ignored by the mainstream (because 2.2 is boring) and by vendors (who don't ship 2.2 any more)." In parting, he optimistically says:
"A few years ago I'd have worried about doing this, the great thing is that with the kernel community we have today I know I'm not a critical cog in the machine. In fact I'm surrounded by people far better than I am and we even have Andrew Morton to keep Linus in check 8)"
Good luck on your MBA, Alan. I'm sure we all look forward to seeing you back in a year.
From: Alan Cox [email blocked] To: Linus Torvalds [email blocked], Linux Kernel Mailing List Subject: PATCH: Maintainer/Credit update Date: 20 Aug 2003 12:46:41 +0100 - Roadrunner address is defunct - 3c501/Z85230 are no longer maintained - Update other stuff because I will be away for a year
From: Marc-Christian Petersen [email blocked] Subject: Re: PATCH: Maintainer/Credit update Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 13:59:21 +0200 On Wednesday 20 August 2003 13:46, Alan Cox wrote: Hi Alan, > - Update other stuff because I will be away for a year away?? Why? :-( ciao, Marc
From: Alan Cox [email blocked] Subject: Next Month/Changes to where to send stuff Date: 20 Aug 2003 13:05:10 +0100 At the end of September I'm off back to University on a years sabbatical from Red Hat to study for an MBA. I've made the decision that I'm basically going to vanish for the year so I can concentrate on the course, and on the pet side project of learning Welsh. I've passed all my userspace projects on to other people already, and I'll be vanishing from kernel space too (except to a few priviledged processes ;)). Lots of people send me stuff as a gateway to getting it into 2.4 and 2.6. Lots of people send me security related stuff. Can you in future please send stuff to Security: [email blocked] 2.4: Marcelo/the list/someone he nominates to do that job 2.6: Andrew Morton or for small stuff Rusty Russell's trivial patch manager. The 2.2 tree needs a new maintainer, someone who can spend their entire life refusing patches, being ignored by the mainstream (because 2.2 is boring) and by vendors (who don't ship 2.2 any more). I'm not sure what to do about the -ac patch. Most of the remaining stuff is "pending Marcelo" for 2.4 mainstream, but not the O(1) scheduler and some of the odder cool stuff (like the morse bits). As 2.6 becomes relevant 2.4-ac basically becomes a fixed collection of add-ons that aren't mainstream anyway. And of course there are other people keeping patch sets in the same way nowdays. A few years ago I'd have worried about doing this, the great thing is that with the kernel community we have today I know I'm not a critical cog in the machine. In fact I'm surrounded by people far better than I am and we even have Andrew Morton to keep Linus in check 8) Dal ati! Alan
AC's 2.4 role
Not that I don't trust Marcelo, but the combination Marcelo/Alan was surely a fruitful one. To me it seems there should be someone filling the gap Alan leaves behind.
I wouldn't worry
Marcelo knows what he's doing, and I think Alan is right about the mature developer community Linux has today.
Just the same, I'll miss seeing Alan's changelogs and comments on lkml digest. I remember not to far back when it was the Linus & Alan show with the two squaring off on issues on lkml much to my delight.
We'll miss you Alan. Have a good year, and COME BACK YA HEAR!!!!
is just me...
..or does nobody else think that marcello is the wrong person for the job?
I mean, keeping security updates on hold for month (I'd release a new kernel version immediately...remember those networking bugs which led to 2.0.25-34?) and taking ages on a stable production tree is just ..weird. I look forward to 2.6, Andrew seems to be the right man for the job.
Wiktor
no
I mean, keeping security updates on hold for month (I'd release a new kernel version immediately
If the user is using a vendor kernel they can just wait for their vendor to do it. If the user is compiling their own kernel they ought to know the risks, watch out for kernel security news, and know how to apply the patch that was released.
So I don't see the big problem here.
and taking ages on a stable production tree is just ..
Eminently sensible.
It's supposed to be Stable. With a stable kernel series I want as few new bugs and regressions as possible. Not "Panic!! Argh we've got to get this release out the door - fuck testing man, 1 day's testing should be enough for anyone!"
Which attitude would you prefer?
Which attitude would you pref
Which attitude would you prefer?
Somewhere in between would be nice.
Stable is good but stagnant isn't.
If a security problem arises the stable kernel should be updated to fix it as soon as possible.
Even if that means releasing a new kernel within days of the last one.
Even if that means pushing all the other bug fixes, updates, etc back to the next release.
Thanks
Thanks a lot for all your work Alan.
Enjoy your sabbatical year.
Let's hope that someone will be able to keep on working on IDE stuff in which Alan was highly involved...
Thank you!
I thank you for the great job you did for the community!!
I wish you all the best for this sabbatical year!
Bye
Manu
Well deserved break.
It's not like he doesn't deserve a break.
As for not being an important cog .. whenever someone mentions Linux .. I think "Alan Cox"... oh and Linus :)
lkml might seem a little less sane without Alans input.
no, no, no Alan...not Welsh
Alan:
Not meaning to offend you, but you dont want to go wasting your time learning
something silly like Welsh. I guess it might have some cultural interest
etc, but let face it - who speaks Welsh?!
Instead, I'd reccommend you learn a language which people actually use.
To be specific - Klingon. If you decide to go with my superior alternative
then I suggest you get started by taking a look at www.kli.org (The Klingon Language Institute).
Good Luck :)
Welsh
Well, the Welsh speak Welsh, strangely enough. Also the Patagonians!
There are still many people who are first language Welsh speakers in Wales, and whose English isn't that great. Mainly in the west and north.
I live in Cardiff, just down the road from Swansea, and while I don't speak Welsh, am starting to learn as it's embarrasing to not be able to join in conversations.
There is thousands of years of culture that is only vaguely translated to other languages. It's one of the oldest european languages.
Klingon may be fun for a weekend... But it's even more fun to learn a real language.
Welsh.
Breton is also similar to welsh (from the same brythonic family - P type celtic).
Re: no, no, no Alan...not Welsh
Although I know you're joking (and ignoring the realistic reasons to learn Welsh), it could be his first step towards learning Middle Earth style Elvish (which is based on Welsh, if I remember correctly).
No matter the reason, I'm sure it's better than my reason for (crappily) learning (a small bit of) French: to pass high school ;). (If it matters any, I can still read a bit of French, but there's no way I can listen to or speak it anymore, and I've only be graduated for a year and a half or so =P).
Nobody speaks Welsh
Tish te bawr. (?)
have a good break ..but do come back
Hi Alan, Thanks, from all of us Linux users. Enjoy your break
But come back soon.... we need you. ;-)
2.2 Is Important
2.2 is important. If SCO wins, then we'd have to revert back to 2.2. Interesting thought.
Good News or Bad News ?
I think both.
Welsch ...
Why don't try Esperanto ?
It's possible to learn it in few weeks (2 ~ 4 weeks).
I think it's not far from the Open Source Philosophy, and like OSS it could be "a big step for humanity".
2-4 weeks is an exageration.
2-4 weeks is an exageration. I could understand conversation after a month or so but it took me 6 months to be able take part in those conversations fluently. Mind you I study less than half an hour a day.