Warning - FreeBSD (*BSD) entanglement in Linux ecosystem

[Chad Perrin]

On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 09:42:32AM -0500, Mark Felder wrote:
> Those in on the core teams here are very well aware. Did you notice
> we've survived this long without ALSA? :-) However, this is very
> good reading for anyone who hasn't looked at Linux lately, and it's
> worth mentioning that this is snowballing quickly. I used to really
> like some Linux distros. I've been working closely with FreeBSD for
> 3 years now and after watching Linux change in those 3 years from
> this distance I'm not sure I want to go back. Everything that
> originally excited me about *nix operating systems is gone; it's a
> big convoluted mess now. This isn't a good sign and I hope someone
> has the sense enough to stand their ground and tell
> RedHat/Poettering "NO".
> 
> 
> TEAR DOWN THIS WALL, MR GORB^H^H^H^HPOETTERING

Hallelujah.

Poettering and his ilk represent the gravest threat to the Linux
ecosystem I've ever seen.  I switched from Debian to FreeBSD in late 2005
or early 2006, having not touched FreeBSD much before that.  Early the
year before last year, I got a laptop and discovered that I should have
paid more attention to what I was buying, because at the time FreeBSD
didn't support the laptop's graphics.  I thought "Well, Debian isn't as
nice as FreeBSD, but it was pretty good, so I'll use that."

Ever since then, I've spent uncounted hours writing hackish wrapper code
to paper over the disaster area that is system management in the Linux
world now.  I wrote an article for TechRepublic about some of my
experiences (and other gripes about the Linux world after five years away
from it) titled "NetworkManager, the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalinux".

The more we can avoid code written by Poettering and anything remotely
like it, the better off we will be, I'm sure.  Luckily, he wants to help
us; he has stated that he believes writing quality, portable code somehow
hinders "innovation", and as such he goes out of his way to avoid
portability concerns.  Good riddance.

-- 
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]