"A recent thread on the Linux kernel mailing list (lkml
) started off by generally bashing Eric S Raymond (ESR). Sifting
through the many insults and round trip name calling, though, there
was some constructive debating.
The thread was initiated by Jeff Garzik, in response to a
message on the kbuild developer's list. The message, from ESR, is a
four-point list of suggestions, asking members of the kbuild
developer's list to speak with Dirk Hohndel about CML2 and
kbuild-2.5, who in turn was to speak with Linus. That thread
continues constructively, discussing the pro's and con's of both
new systems.
With Jeff's email, the thread was essentially moved to the lkml,
an often less-than-friendly environment. Involved in the ensuing
debates were many kernel hacker notables, including Alan Cox, Dave
Jones, Robert Love , Alexander Viro, Rob Landley, and of course
Jeff Garzik and Eric S Raymond. Many of the arguments on both sides
seemed a bit ridiculous and melodramatic, in my humble opinion
(more personality conflicts than anything), but the ultimate issue
is interesting and worth talking about: CML2 is a complete re-write
of CML1, so different that it doesn't even attempt to be backward
compatible. In the end, is CML1 broken enough and is CML2 superior
enough to justify the effort required to make the upgrade?"
