- Linus Torvalds criticized a Google contributor on the Linux kernel mailing list for his suggestions about filesystems.
- The debate centered around the use of inodes as unique identifiers for metadata on a filesystem.
- Torvalds’s strong language and tone in his response to the contributor were reminiscent of his past flippant attacks, for which he previously apologized.
Archive link: https://archive.ph/LP24s
Maybe he realized that he is not his code; that his code can be wrong and he’s still okay.
If so, he’d be WAY out in front of many devs I’ve worked around.
I don’t believe in this distinction. I am proud of my work. If I wasn’t, I would have almost no drive to deliver good or even any results. I like what I do.
So of course it becomes a difference if you tell me that there is a better way to do what I did (aka giving me something to improve) or if you tell me that my work is utter crap (aka taking away any positivity I had).
So yes, my code can be wrong or bad. But it’s still something I produced. So I prefer to not have it treated like a piece of shit.
Proud of today’s code. Deeply ashamed of yesterday’s code. That is our lot in life. At least it shows us our development.