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What Happens to Linux After Linus Torvalds? We Finally Have the Answer to This Uncomfortable Question (itsfoss.com)

submitted 4 days ago by costalfy@programming.dev to c/linux@programming.dev

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[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 148 points 4 days ago

tl;dr:

If, for whatever reason, progress on the torvalds/linux.git repository is affected, someone has to get things moving within 72 hours. This person could either be the one who organized the most recent Maintainer Summit or the chair of the Linux Foundation's Technical Advisory Board (TAB).

They will be tasked with pulling together the people who were invited to the last summit, along with members of the TAB.

It gets more complicated after that, but essentially that's it.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure there already is more than one top maintainers for the kernel code anyhow.

[-] balsoft@lemmy.ml 33 points 4 days ago

So yeah, there's no exact answer to "what happens to Linux after Torvalds", it's more of "who gets to add more maintainers to torvalds/linux.git if nobody merges things in there for 72 hours". I suppose Linus is confident that the system of distributed maintainers is robust enough to survive his & gregkh's incapacitation, and the only remaining point of failure is access to the central repo itself. I think he is underestimating the governance upheaval that would happen if he was to disappear, so I hope that he puts some more details about his views on future project governance in writing.

[-] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 6 points 3 days ago

A thousand years from now there will be priests delivering sermons on the Book of Linus

[-] Chee_Koala@lemmy.world 43 points 4 days ago

Thanks for the tldr, it's a simple fix but at least now we have some plan instead of no plan.

[-] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 4 days ago

The project must go on!

[-] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

Whats so special about 72 hours? It sounds like it would selfdestruct if nobody presses the dead man switch every 3 days?

[-] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 days ago

4815162342

[-] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Is this another inside joke? I don't get it.

[-] fatalicus@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Never seen Lost?

[-] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

Oh, deep cut. I did not see that string as separate numbers. Thank you for the explanation.

[-] Eternal192@anarchist.nexus 38 points 4 days ago

He creates something, lets it grow and sets it free, Linux is pretty much everywhere and GitHub was recently purchased by Microslop, sorry Microsoft (keeps autocorrecting) and he has no intention to hold anything just for himself, he likes creating "campfires" around which like-minded people can gather and share ideas to oversimplify it.

[-] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 79 points 4 days ago

Github =/= Git, if that was what you were trying to indicate.

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 3 days ago

and the kernel repo on github is a mirror, for those who don't know

[-] Flamekebab@piefed.social 26 points 4 days ago

I thought they bought GitHub ages ago?

[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 15 points 4 days ago

Depends on the beholder's POV I guess; but yeah, even to a middle-aged fart like me 2018 is not "recent" anymore.

[-] Flamekebab@piefed.social 22 points 4 days ago

GitHub was founded in 2008 so nearly half its life it has been owned my MS. Yeah, "recent" doesn't feel like a good fit here.

[-] TheV2@programming.dev 6 points 4 days ago

Yes, vice versa even to a young bird like me 2018 was just yesterday and the acquisition by Microsoft feels even more recent.

[-] costalfy@framapiaf.org 8 points 4 days ago

@costalfy@programming.dev

Dans un scénario post-Linus, @gregkh l'un des mainteneurs les plus respectés après Torvalds, est pressentis pour assumer le leadership. @torvalds lui-même a validé ce plan en signant le commit qui l'a rendu officiel.

[+] Linktank@lemmy.today -65 points 4 days ago

Maybe a third, actually good OS will finally appear?

[-] OR3X@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago

Wrong space for that, buddy.

[+] Linktank@lemmy.today -31 points 4 days ago

Y'all can disagree all you want. It's still doody. The only reason people are flocking to it is because windows is even more shit.

[-] OR3X@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago

Is it doody or are you just technologically challenged? Based on your double-down I think I might know the answer.

[+] Linktank@lemmy.today -17 points 4 days ago

I've been using computers and various operating systems since the early 90s. Trying to use linux today and most things still seem to require three tutorials to do basic things like install files.

It's just not easy to use. I could never recommend it to somebody who is new or even newer to computers.

[-] Avicenna@programming.dev 1 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

There are flavours of linux that allow you to just click and install compatible file types. You can easily use Ubuntu your whole life without touching the terminal. Using the terminal allows you to do certain things much faster and easier but that is a skill you need to train if you want to use it.

If you are however talking about trying to run an originally windows native game in linux, then that might turn out to be an advanced problem. So you need to be patient and likely try couple different solutions (starting with the most recent dated one and paying attention to version numbers etc). It might even turn out to be impossible. That is an inescapable consequence of using a non main stream OS, not a problem of the OS itself. But given how the gaming world is shifting to linux, that might change in future and windows users (if any) might start complaining about how hard it is to port games to windows.

[-] snowykitty@piefed.blahaj.zone 15 points 4 days ago

my grandma uses it just fine...

[-] vithigar@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 days ago

If you're using vague, borderline nonsensical phrases like "install files" when trying to find out how to do things that might go some way towards explaining it.

[-] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago

It is though? Is the bar so low that simply having to read, comprehend and follow instructions is disqualifying?

Maybe you need to abandon desktop computing and go purchase an iPad

[-] hzl@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago

You forgot having to be flexible enough to not have any particular workflow that works for you personally. Linux is great if you don't need to use anything that doesn't have a comparable equivalent.

[-] khleedril@cyberplace.social -5 points 4 days ago

@Linktank @OR3X Wow, you're rubbish.

[-] Linktank@lemmy.today -1 points 4 days ago

Good one.

[-] chromeleon@lemmy.world 21 points 4 days ago

Define what a good OS is, so we can all have a laugh.

[-] gustofwind@lemmy.world 19 points 4 days ago

Windows
mac
linux

It has, yes

[-] wltr@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 4 days ago

Since Linux is not an operating system, but the kernel, I think the guy means:

Gentoo
Arch Linux

But hey!

I don’t like Debian, but it’s good, quite a lot of people like it
Fedora is good either. I like it. People don’t like corporate influence, but hey, it’s good, isn’t it?

I’ve heard good things of Bazzite (a repacked Fedora, isn’t it?). Also, Pop_OS! looks promising too, especially with their recent Cosmic Desktop. Personally, I despise Mint (especially the Ubuntu version, lol, shit based on shit, sorry everyone) but many people like it, so it’s not as shitty as I believe it is. Em, Ubuntu … anyone uses it? I’ve seen folks using it as a server OS. I have no idea, perhaps that’s not incompetence, but there are use cases.

So yeah, still more than three. I’ve heard BSDs are quite good, but maybe not for everyone, especially as desktops. Yet, I’ve heard good things about them.

Alpine. Even on a desktop, people use it. And if you like SBCs, I think DietPi is a great project, Armbian is a great effort too.

So… I don’t know man. We have more than three, our issue is with the opposite, we have too many. Someone uses Slackware even. Others Linux from scratch. There are Nix people. I should have missed someone. But as I’ve been saying, we have too many already.

[-] leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago

It already exists, it's called OpenBSD.

[-] Marty_TF@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago

i too love fish linux

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 days ago

That's a pretty weird take given that OpenBSD is way behind Linux

[-] sprack@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Same issue there. What happens when Theo dies?

[-] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 days ago

Sure, and maybe Microslop will one day put the acid down.

this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026

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