[gentoo-amd64] Re: Best Desktop Patchset for kernel

[Duncan]

Hemmann, Volker Armin posted
<200510050628.01257.volker.armin.hemmann@××××××××××××.de>, excerpted
below,  on Wed, 05 Oct 2005 06:28:01 +0200:

> On Wednesday 05 October 2005 05:40, Jared Lindsay wrote:
>> Eh? Like to destroy filesystems? Not sure what nitro you're talking
>> about...
>>
>>
> I am not sure if it was nitro, love or any other of the 'forum kernels'.
> But even if nitro was not the fs-damaging one,  why don't we ask ciaranm
> what he thinks about nitro:
>
>>Try using a non-broken set of kernel sources.
>
> well, that was pretty clear[]

The following is my opinion, very frankly so, and my opinion only.  May it
not be misconstrued.

With all due respect, Ciaran, to put it in language similar to what he
uses, might be considered a "broken" developer, or at least a developer
with a "broken" people sense.

That is, of course, rather harsher than I'd normally put it, as despite
his weaknesses, I have a great deal of respect for him, because he
/always/ puts it as he sees it without mincing words, and because he tends
to insist on technical correctness, which has its place, where others are
often satisfied with "just works".

>From reading the dev list, I've noticed that with /great/ predictability,
/every/ post by ciaranm is a complaint or criticism.  Again, it's usually
technically correct, and in many cases, he's complaining because of the
difficulty somone's "just works" solution caused the sparc or mips team
(IDR which it is he uses, both?), but some seem to only tolerate him, as
he seems to only tolerate them.  IMO, a bit more "people sense" could be
of help, to put it mildly.  Not /every/ post being a complaint or
criticism would be nice, as well.  (I'm wary of using the term "every", as
I have here, because a single example breaks the assertion.  It's probably
not /every/ post in point of fact, but it's enough that as I said, with
/great/ predictability, I can be reading a post and say this sounds like
Ciaran, and I can check the author, and sure enough.  By the same token, I
can see ciaranm in the author field and predict even before opening the
post, what the general message will be.  If anyone can point to posts that
break this pattern, I'd be happy to see them.  Maybe it'll give me a
glimpse of a side of him I have yet to see!)

...

Taken with that sort of pre-filter in place, the mere fact that ciaranm
commented on nitro kernels is predictive of the contents of said comments.
Further, while his viewpoint is obvious (and predictable, if he bothers
to post it), it doesn't necessarily apply to every situation in which the
kernels might be put to use.  In particular, it wouldn't surprise me in
the least if he defined "broken" as used above, to mean that it didn't
work on his arch or application of choice, which may or may not have any
bearing on other archs or applications, where it may work just fine.

In summary, Ciaran /does/ usually tend to be technically correct, as
narrowly defined. For that I respect him.  However, while what he says
about a particular kernel should certainly be one factor in weighing
whether one is going to use it or not, it's certainly not the be-all and
end-all of definitive references to kernel suitability for one's
particular purpose, particularly if one's particular purpose isn't the
same and on the same arch as was Ciaran's when he tried it.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman in
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html


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