this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 8 months ago (4 children)
[–] [email protected] 66 points 8 months ago (1 children)

He did mention the murder of his wife and said he would detail his regret to anyone who asked. The rest of the letter describes the "social mistakes" in dealing with co-workers and the Linux community. He even asks that those co-workers' names be added to the credits and his negative comments about them be deleted. There's no forgiving what he did to his wife but there's at least some evidence he's changed since that happened.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 8 months ago (1 children)

He did mention the murder of his wife and said he would detail his regret to anyone who asked.

This is true - I'm reacting more to the title than the content. It's a very peculiar choice of words.

There’s no forgiving what he did to his wife but there’s at least some evidence he’s changed since that happened.

Perhaps - it's hard to tell. It still reads a lot like one of his standard narcissistic rants even as he's complimenting others. It's still all about his "dream".

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm not a doctor but he certainly seems neurodivergent based on his writing. It's hard to imagine him ever changing in some significant way and being "rehabilitated" enough to be allowed back into society, hence the "some evidence". It's might be best he remains in jail rather than be paroled.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah - I mean - I don't want to get into the business of analyzing somebody's metal state but he definitely seems to have issues with fixation. But I also don't want to cross the line into saying that he's necessarily dangerous because of that. He's dangerous for other reasons though. I agree with your "some evidence" line in that he does seem to be focusing on the part of his personality that does seem to be the most dangerous - inability to manage conflict. Prison does provide for that conflict - but it also provides many rules and structures that he wouldn't have on the outside. Dunno. I have a difficult time saying that anybody who has murdered their wife should ever see freedom again at all - "reformed" or not.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Author choosing some odd phrasing to group murder and interactions on the LKML.

Edit: The letter does include "social mistake in the Linux community" but it's still odd to phrase it that way in an article about it, imo.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

He was not referring to the murder using that phrase though. He was detailing how he poorly interacted with others on the project.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Yes, which is why it is a little odd for the article author to include it without context, because we all immediately think of one social mistake that has nothing to do with Linux.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago

Lack of planning - getting caught by police because of chopping your wife up in a place connected to you - social mistake.

I know that's not what the title means, just all the "killer feature" jokes are afloat in my skull.