Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Sat, 11 Jan 2003 17:27:57 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Sat, 11 Jan 2003 17:27:57 -0500 Received: from twilight.ucw.cz ([195.39.74.230]:33701 "EHLO twilight.ucw.cz") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Sat, 11 Jan 2003 17:27:56 -0500 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2003 23:36:33 +0100 From: Vojtech Pavlik To: Rob Wilkens Cc: Kurt Garloff , Linux kernel list Subject: Re: Nvidia and its choice to read the GPL "differently" Message-ID: <20030111233633.A17042@ucw.cz> References: <7BFCE5F1EF28D64198522688F5449D5A03C0F4@xchangeserver2.storigen.com> <1042250324.1278.18.camel@RobsPC.RobertWilkens.com> <20030111020738.GC9373@work.bitmover.com> <1042251202.1259.28.camel@RobsPC.RobertWilkens.com> <20030111021741.GF9373@work.bitmover.com> <1042252717.1259.51.camel@RobsPC.RobertWilkens.com> <20030111214437.GD9153@nbkurt.casa-etp.nl> <1042322012.1034.6.camel@RobsPC.RobertWilkens.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i In-Reply-To: <1042322012.1034.6.camel@RobsPC.RobertWilkens.com>; from robw@optonline.net on Sat, Jan 11, 2003 at 04:53:33PM -0500 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1687 Lines: 43 On Sat, Jan 11, 2003 at 04:53:33PM -0500, Rob Wilkens wrote: > On Sat, 2003-01-11 at 16:44, Kurt Garloff wrote: > > You're new to Linux, aren't you? > > Or terribly presumptous. > > A little of both, but not too much of either. > > I'd say "New to linux" but I've been using it on and off since 1995 or > earlier. > > I'd say terribly presumptuous, but I don't think it is presumptuous to > say that if there are many patches (bug fixes, mostly) coming in that > the code that was originally there was of questionable quality. Very interesting idea. But not correct. The reason is code rot(*). You have never to stop maintaining and patching and fixing the code to keep it working. A perfectly good and clean code, if you don't touch it, becomes crusty and smelly over time(**). This is why the number of patches daily entering the kernel is actually a sign of good overall code quality. ;) (*) http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/software-rot.html http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/bit-rot.html (**) One of the reasons for this is that the hardware changes over time. Another is that the requirements of what it is expected to do change over time. And yet another is that due to the above changes the rest of the code gets updated and the parts that were not touched do not interoperate properly any more. Huh. And now I'll be getting all the e-mails following in this thread. -- Vojtech Pavlik SuSE Labs - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/