Linus Torvalds the father of Linux
Linus Torvalds released the third release candidate of the Linux 6.8 kernel on Sunday (Linux 6.8-rc3). But before that, on the Linux kernel mailing list, there was a heated debate between Linus Torvalds and a Google kernel contributor about inodes in Linux filesystems.
And many of us know that Linus Torvalds is not one to keep his comments to himself and his temper is something to be feared., because for many years the father of Linux has not only gained fame for having created Linux, but he is also known for his direct and sometimes abrasive style that he launches without a second thought.
On this occasion, Linus Torvalds He did not miss the opportunity and harshly criticized and rejected the proposals of the Google collaborator, reminding you that the world is no longer living in the 70s and that file systems have come a long way. The strong language and tone used by Linus Torvalds in his response to his collaborator are reminiscent of his past frivolous attacks, for which he previously apologized.
The debate centered on the use of "inodes" as unique identifiers for a file system's metadata. An index node or inode (contraction of the English index and node) is a unique identifier for a specific element of metadata in a file system. In other words, an inode is a data structure that contains information about a file or directory stored in some file system. Inodes have been the subject of debate for the past few weeks, with "robust" exchanges between Linux Torvalds and a Google employee named Steven Rostedt.
“Ironically, one of the responsibilities I put off to fix eventsfs” was writing this about a support group for handyman burnout,” the Google employee said. (Maintainer and contributor burnout is a major concern in the free and open source software community. Solutions to this problem are constantly being debated, but things do not seem to be moving forward. This situation threatens the survival of certain projects that could end up lacking taxpayers.)
The debate began on the Linux kernel mailing list, where the usefulness and relevance of inodes was discussed as unique identifiers for file and directory metadata in Linux file systems. Inodes, an essential part of the file system structure, have been the subject of controversy in recent weeks.
"Stop complicating things more than necessary." And damn it, STOP COPYING FUNCTIONS FROM THE VFS LAYER. It was a bad idea last time, and it's a very bad idea this time too. “I can’t stand that kind of nonsense.” Torvalds' main criticism of Rostedt's approach is that the Google employee did not fully understand the issue, which Rostedt later acknowledged. But in the meantime, Torvalds had burned it like this: "you copied this function without understanding why it does what it does, and therefore your code is garbage."
In an email exchange, Torvalds expressed frustration with the approach proposed by the Google contributor, urging him to fully understand the problem before proposing solutions. His criticism, although direct, reflects his commitment to technical excellence and his desire to maintain the quality standards of the Linux kernel.
In the community there are mixed reactions to this confrontation between Torvalds and the Google employee. Torvalds is criticized by some, while others see no problem with these statements. Another group tries to find justification for the Linux creator's comments. "Torvalds is the focal point of so many things, I guess it's very difficult to be polite and not aggressive," the comments read.
finally if you are interested in knowing more about it, you can check the details of the Linux kernel mailing list discussions at the following links. E-mail 1, Mail 2, Mail 3 and Mail 4