On Monday, Rob Landley, a computer programmer, writer and Linuxevangelist, posted a proposal to the Linux kernel development listcalling for a "Patch Penguin"--a person who would help integrate fixesfor the myriad of small problems that plague the current developmentkernel, Linux 2.5.
The proposal comes after many developers have grown frustrated withTorvalds for not keeping up with the slew of minor fixes hatched byvolunteers, said Landley. A situation that, he added, that has become asource of underlying tension in the community.
"Right now, the patch process is manageable, but it's showing stressfractures, and I'm proposing to relieve that stress before anearthquake," said Landley, after his proposal set off a heateddiscussion on the list between Torvalds and several developers. "If thestress keeps growing, the more and more likely that somethingcatastrophic will happen."
The debate has highlighted the fact that, while the complexity of Linuxhas grown, the task of managing additions to the operating system hasn'tkept pace. The fear is that frustrated developers couldstrike out on their own, "forking" the Linux kernel andcreating two distinct versions of the operating system.
Based on code written in the early 1990s by Torvalds, Linux has grown from a tiny, basic operating system toa set of software with features rivaling those of Microsoft'sWindows. However, Torvalds still manages the single official version ofthe core operating system, known as the kernel, as well as architectsthe future direction of Linux.
Torvalds, a fellow at chipmaker Transmeta, argued that the currentdevelopment organization is fine. Instead, he insists that developersare frustrated that he doesn't apply every patch that is sent to him.
"The basic issue is one of prioritizing," he said. "You can do one oftwo things: accept everything, including the crud, (or) being careful,and spending time on the patches you apply."
A matter of trust
Torvalds added that some of the tension comes from his refusal to applypatches that aren't properly submitted and that aren't from people hetrusts. Those people, known as maintainers, are programmers designatedto lead the development of certain Linux subsystems, such as networking,the help system, and graphics.
"In short, send patches to maintainers that you know I trust," he said."If you cannot find a person to be a proponent of your patch, you shouldask yourself if the patch might have some problem."
That keeps developers guessing, however, whether Torvalds refused thepatch because it had a problem or because they didn't have time to getaround to it.
"The problem is that the flow of good patches through the system isgetting blocked," said Landley. "Part of the problem is that Linus' wayof rejecting things is to simply ignore them."
And that's not just happening to unknown developers that have littlerespect in the community. Big-name developers are seeing their work gounused for long periods of time.
Eric Raymond, a well-known open-source evangelist and maintainer of theLinux Help system, said that he had to submit six patches to the systema total of 33 times to get them included. Each time the kernel changedwithout the inclusion of his changes, he faced extra work to make sure that his software fixes worked with the latestversion of the kernel.
"Linux is not outgrowing Linus' capabilities as an architect, but rightnow it is outgrowing his capabilities as a manager," said Raymond. "Ifwe are going to keep Linus as the architect, we have to find a way toreplace him as a manager, or at least supplement his ability to dealwith patches."
Mounting delays
Others argue that the patching problem is the leading cause of delays instarting development on the next version of Linux.
It took just over three months to stabilize Linux 2.2, a productionkernel, and start development on Linux 2.3, a test kernel used only fordevelopment. However, it took developers almost 11 months to stabilizethe latest production kernel, Linux 2.4, and move onto the newest testkernel, Linux 2.5.
Even people that have worked closely with Torvalds believe that he needshelp to organize development efforts and keep the code updated.
Alan Cox, a well-known Linux kernel developer who, according to Landley,has unofficially acted as "Patch Penguin" for the current stable kernel,Linux 2.4, agrees that Torvalds needs a sidekick at the very least.
An indication of that, said Cox, is that companies that release theirown Linux distributions, such as Red Hat, SuSE and Mandrake, patch thekernel themselves, fixing many problems to which Torvalds has refused togive priority.
"If you look at the vendors, they tend to ship kernels with fixes,changes and often lag markedly behind the leading edge--that'sintentional," said Cox, a fellow at Red Hat. "The typical customer wantsa solid, reliable platform and someone to stand up and say, 'We supportthis, we tested it, we say it works.'"
However, Cox downplays the rifts in the communities, noting that Linuxdevelopers tend to be a fractious lot.
"Think of this more like an office meeting to figure out what is goingon and what needs to be tweaked in the processes," he said. "Thedifference being we hold our office meetings in public."
For his part, Torvalds said he isn't becoming overwhelmed by the work ofkeeping Linux development on track. However, he does allow for thepossibility that an additional maintainer to keep track of the minorpatches might have merit.
"A person who only takes the 'miscellaneous' patches--the stuff thatfalls through the cracks by virtue of being small and not in any clearlymanaged code--might be a fairly good idea," he said. "The problem withthat is that there are very few people who want to just clean thestables and not do the big and 'exciting' stuff."