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-   -   Linus T: "Linux is bloated" (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-general-1/linus-t-linux-is-bloated-757089/)

kebabbert 09-22-2009 05:25 PM

Linus T: "Linux is bloated"
 
Linus T says Linux is bloated. It has 10 millions Line of Code. Just one kernel. The entire Windows NT was 10 millions LoC.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09..._bloated_huge/
Linus says that they fix bugs as fast as new code is added. But code is always swapped out for new designs. Hence, the code that get bug fixed is swapped out soon after. This constant swapping of code also causes unstable ABIs which is a bad thing in Enterprise environments. Imagine you upgrade something, and the ABI has changed which causes you to upgrade another piece etc etc, soon you have been forced to upgrade everything and you dont have the well tested environment anymore. This is a bad thing. Or, you upgrade the Kernel and the device driver has broke, which only gets triggered during certain circumstances.


The weird thing is, Theo said this 5 years ago and was called a Troll
http://www.forbes.com/2005/06/16/lin..._0616theo.html

"[Linux] is terrible," De Raadt says. "Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is. And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and saying, 'This is garbage and we should fix it.'"

IT company CEO: "You know what I found? Right in the [Linux] kernel, in the heart of the operating system, I found a developer's comment that said, 'Does this belong here?' "Lok says. "What kind of confidence does that inspire? Right then I knew it was time to switch."


Even Linux kernel developer Andrew Morton complains about the declining quality of the Linux kernel. His words:
http://lwn.net/Articles/285088/

Q: Is it your opinion that the quality of the kernel is in decline? Most developers seem to be pretty sanguine about the overall quality problem. Assuming there's a difference of opinion here, where do you think it comes from? How can we resolve it?

A: I used to think it was in decline, and I think that I might think that it still is. I see so many regressions which we never fix.


So what should Linus do? I think he should have a plan instead of just adding code all the time. All this new code breaks compatibility and causes major problems. No more constantly moving target. Design it well and keep it stable. What do you think?

jiml8 09-23-2009 02:11 AM

I have been grumbling for the last week about breaking compatibility. That needs to be avoided. Just last saturday, I had to roll back a new Centos environment from 2.6.30 to 2.6.24 because the kernel dropped a function call after 2.6.27 that a library I use needs. The developers of the library have not made an upgrade available, and I can't switch at this time.

I personally have not noticed any significant improvements in the kernel for quite a few releases now. I actually try to avoid upgrading my kernel on my workstation, but my package manager makes this into a royal PITA because I don't have an option to say "don't bug me about this...I don't want to."

H_TeXMeX_H 09-23-2009 03:55 AM

I think Linus should probably assert his authority a bit more, maybe even fork the kernel if necessary. It's true, Linux is in danger of becoming not just bloated but unstable and unusable (far worse than just bloated).


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