Is Linux for Losers?

[mipadi]

I found this article linked off of Slashdot, and while it is a bit controversial (at least for diehard Linux users), I think it's interesting enough that it could spark some fun discussion.

Theo de Raadt is a pioneer of the open source software movement and a huge proponent of free software. But he is no fan of the open source Linux operating system.

"It's terrible," De Raadt [a BSD developer] says. "Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is. And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and saying, 'This is garbage and we should fix it.'"

[...]

"I think our code quality is higher, just because that's really a big focus for us," De Raadt says. "Linux has never been about quality. There are so many parts of the system that are just these cheap little hacks, and it happens to run."

[...]
Lok Technologies, a San Jose, Calif.-based maker of networking gear, started out using Linux in its equipment but switched to OpenBSD four years ago after company founder Simon Lok, who holds a doctorate in computer science, took a close look at the Linux source code.

"You know what I found? Right in the kernel, in the heart of the operating system, I found a developer's comment that said, 'Does this belong here?' "Lok says. "What kind of confidence does that inspire? Right then I knew it was time to switch."

And here's what I personally think is perhaps the best quote in the article:

There's also a difference in motivation. "Linux people do what they do because they hate Microsoft. We do what we do because we love Unix," De Raadt says. The irony, however, is that while noisy Linux fanatics make a great deal out of their hatred for Microsoft, De Raadt says their beloved program is starting to look a lot like what Microsoft puts out. "They have the same rapid development cycle, which leads to crap," he says.

I know there are a few people familiar with Linux on this board. What do you guys see as correct or incorrect about that article? (There's a lot more to it than just the quoted parts, so I suggest you read it first to get a good idea of the content.)

[acemaverick1381]

I have heard about this, and it some ways its starting to come true... The true fact is that Linux is not a corporation. Linux does not have a big office building like Microsoft. (Unless you are talking about companies like Red Hat and SuSe) Linux is everywhere, the source is everywhere, and there are 1,000s of different flavors. You can do a LFS yourself (Linux From Scratch) which also adds more than 2,000 other flavors. Most of which are open source. The main difference I believe is the open source factor. Perhaps Linux is growing to big as a community. The funny part I read about was the devlopment cylce. Correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't seem to find what flavor of Linux he was looking at. Considering that he could have been looking at some 12 year olds LFS that he did, it seemed kinda fishy to me.

[mipadi]

I'm guessing he was looking at the development cycle of the kernel itself, since Linux, in its true sense, refers to the kernel, not to a distribution of Linux.

[acemaverick1381]

I found a developer's comment that said, 'Does this belong here?' "Lok says.

I was specifically talking about that qoute. Because you can modify the kernal and recompile it, he could have found it in any number of places.

[tomalakborg]

I think there are some points to this article. As a linux user, I have my beefs with the os - but none with the kernel, which is this guy's point. The kernel works fine for me, it works fine for my friends, I like it. I live by 'make bzImage; make modules; make modules_install'

The devs comments are actually pretty funny and give some personality. They're almost like easter eggs of sorts, and also point things out. "To protect the innocent, this module is turned off by default" "desperate users and developers only, masochists alike"

"Linux people do what they do because they hate Microsoft. We do what we do because we love Unix,"

This disturbs me. I do not hate microsoft, and neither do alot of linux users. That statement also implies that linux users and their dogpile of code don't respect unix. He makes it seem like linux is a stain on the track record of unix, and bsd is wonderful perfect. Natrually, BSD is alot tighter, but that's because of the way it's built. The people who jsut do it only to spite windows will not stay long, or at least not  dive into the think of linux. They will try the window managers, find problems, and go back to windows. People that stay with linux are doing it for the project, not the pure hatred of microsoft. You'd get a mac if that was your train of thought.

I believe I understand what Torvalds is saying when he says this guy is 'difficult'. Of course his crack team of 60 makes better code, its a team. The open-source community looks alot like a sci-fi convention, they all share the same thoughts and goals, but are doing it on their free time and not really working as a tight-knit team.

Linux is a cool project, and it's something of pride. Like a group of people that got together and built a car. It's cool, sometimes it breaks down, ok alot of the time it breaks down, but they get it running. Natrually it's no production unit, and the masses won't be seeing them around, but it's a project, and it's their acomplishment. Another example is a guy building some storage racks in his basement shop. He could go buy a rack, maybe it would even be better, but he's doing it, dammit. That's the way I feel. The code isn't mine, but I fought through the problems and learned alot by using slackware. I recompiled, I wrote conf files, I configured my own window manager.

It may not be an enterprise-grade business project, but the open-source development of linux has momentum. If it's not the tightest ever, like BSD, it's not going to change overnight. The entire community has to stop, think, and redesign everything, and it won't happen soon. There's much life in the future of this current dogpile design. If it gets to crazy, it will implode, stop working, and people will think of something different.

Ok - long post, many thoughts: Linux is not BSD, very very different. Business development vs. throng of people's pet projects. True linux users like linux more than they hate micorosft. That's pretty much it. I'd like to hear some other ideas!