Conversation
Krzysztof Kozlowski
krzk
I think many kernel developers - including myself, a long time ago - believe that becoming a Linux kernel maintainer is a difficult process. As if some secret group has to choose you, you need to prove yourself, and then a Masonic lodge will select the best candidates from a huge pool of competition.
That's simply not true. Becoming a Linux kernel maintainer is actually quite easy.
The difficulty lies in staying one.
Every now and then, I notice subsystems that need more maintainers. Do you want to be one?
Of course taking maintainership position and being a true maintainer are a bit different things, but I hope you get the point...
That's simply not true. Becoming a Linux kernel maintainer is actually quite easy.
The difficulty lies in staying one.
Every now and then, I notice subsystems that need more maintainers. Do you want to be one?
Of course taking maintainership position and being a true maintainer are a bit different things, but I hope you get the point...
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@krzk be a maintener or a weekend hobbyist, writing kernel code is fun. I agree staying in that role takes a tremendous amount of effort and expertise.
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Petr Tesařík
ptesarik@infosec.exchange
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Petr Tesařík
ptesarik@infosec.exchange
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@ljs My post was of course simplifying or generalizing, because no one will take freshmen for example into maintaining MM or scheduling. What I wanted to say there are many non-complicated driver subsystems which need new maintainers and it is relatively easy to start there. If you have patches already in the kernel and the community recognizes you (vide xz case), then just start reviewing and in no time you will be there.
Assuming of course one knows Git, because that's another problem with young folks these days - they know Github but do not understand Git...
Assuming of course one knows Git, because that's another problem with young folks these days - they know Github but do not understand Git...
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@krzk @ljs
Me crying ever since I randomly picked MM in college :'(
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Of course, just kidding—it just takes a significant amount of time to even start reviewing when you look at complex subsystems. But no matter how complex the subsystem you're looking at is, as long as your curiosity doesn’t stop and you keep spending time on it, you’ll eventually get there.
And yeah, being good at using Git is such an important skill in a project with a long history (and being able to find and read old mailing list threads too...)
Me crying ever since I randomly picked MM in college :'(
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.
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Of course, just kidding—it just takes a significant amount of time to even start reviewing when you look at complex subsystems. But no matter how complex the subsystem you're looking at is, as long as your curiosity doesn’t stop and you keep spending time on it, you’ll eventually get there.
And yeah, being good at using Git is such an important skill in a project with a long history (and being able to find and read old mailing list threads too...)
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