Thought #1 (when seeing this article):

It's slow-news season, so someone yet again wrote something about what happens when Linus for one reason or another stops maintaining #Linux, as it's been a while since that topic made the rounds.

Thought #2 (when reading ""When @torvalds goes, the sense of discontinuity will be hard to bear, and the opportunism of commercial interests to grow influence will be non-zero. These are problems now that need addressing before they are ripened by events, and this is where succession planning should take place.""):

I might be wrong, but my gut feeling says that "planning the succession" bears more risk that commercial interests will try to use those plans to grow influence.

Thought #3:

Someone should ask 10 or 15 core developers if they think Linux would be at risk if Linus would be hit by a bus tomorrow.

[edit]

Thought #4:

There for 20+ years now was always someone that was clearly considered "second in command" that could take over when needed (and the current person actually did for one cycle); sure, it's neither public nor written down as such, but it's kind of agreed on among the core developers afaics, so it's not like there is no "succession plan".

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https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/14/the_plan_for_linux_after/

#Linux #kernel #LinuxKernel

@kernellogger @torvalds If Linus quits in an orderly fashion he will put stuff in place. If not then I think there's a clear enough consensus what would happen. Neither IMHO actually matter because the real problem with replacing a system built around a single very high quality point of failure like a benevolent dictator is that the replacement and supporting replacements may simply not exist in quality required. Same problem Nvidia have coming up.

@kernellogger @torvalds Didn't Gregkh do mainline for a while at some point?

@penguin42 @torvalds yes, and he afaics still has access to the primary git repo; and he is actually also among those that signs mainline tarball releases on kernel.org these days (https://www.kernel.org/category/faq.html), it's not Linus that does it afaik.

@etchedpixels @torvalds Nvidia? Huh, interesting point I would not have thought of. 😄

And yes, what you describe is the real problem, as people must ideally agree on and trust that person. But OTOH I'd say we always had one such person over the last 20+ years now.

@kernellogger @etchedpixels @torvalds so basically the community needs to make sure linus eats his vegetables and exercises regularly

@kernellogger I think the commercial interests are trying to grow influence at any opportunity, but that doesn't detract from the need for preparation.

the linux kernel is too important to *not* have a continuity plan. the loss of Torvalds from the project is just one of many contingencies that they should *already* have a plan for.

@hiimmrdave your response made me add a "Thought #4" to the initial toot (which is closely related to #3, but says it clearer)