Linux Guru Alan Cox Takes A Year Off 403
Posted
by
timothy
from the hit-by-the-year-off-bus dept.
from the hit-by-the-year-off-bus dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Linux guru Alan Cox is taking a year off from RedHat and kernel development to get his MBA. For years, Alan Cox has maintained the extremely stable 2.2 Linux kernel, and more or less been Linux creator Linus Torvalds' right hand man. Now it sounds like the 2.2 kernel is up for grabs to someone who is 'good at refusing patches and being ignored'..."
Naww!!! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Naww!!! (Score:4, Informative)
The 2.2 kernel, which he maintains, is the one that SCO claims is free of supposed IP infringements. It is the 2.4 and later kernels which SCO claims were written mostly by SCO. (Millions of lines vs. a total of 4.4 million lines.)
Re:Naww!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Naww!!! (Score:4, Funny)
Exactly! Alan Cox was missing all the limelight 2.4 is getting nowadays, and got pissed off.
Re:Naww!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Stable versions have even final digits. Odd final digits (2.1, 2.3, 2.5...) indicate 'development' versions.
Re:Naww!!! (Score:4, Funny)
I'm good at being ignored (Score:5, Funny)
hmmm....
Re:I'm good at being ignored (Score:3, Funny)
Re:MBA?? AMERICA CENTRIC AGAIN!!! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:MBA?? AMERICA CENTRIC AGAIN!!! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:MBA?? AMERICA CENTRIC AGAIN!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
It amuses me that the very first hit on google from the query "What is an MBA" [google.com] just happens to be a web site in New Zealand
Here it is: The New Zealand MBA Association [mba.org.nz]
Clearly, MBA is not an America-centric term. I suspect your definition of America Centric is "anything I haven't heard of" though.
Re:MBA?? AMERICA CENTRIC AGAIN!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Whew, they changed the story... (Score:5, Funny)
MBA? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Funny)
You mean NBA'ers get all the girls (even the underage ones).
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:NBA? (Score:2)
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
Alan Cox.
Unless the HR manager is a college assistant who has Bonzi Buddy installed on her Windows laptop, Alan will get hired. I suppose some larger companies have policies to honor degrees at all levels of the management and Senior Cox is getting ambitious. In that case it kinda gets sad to see him planning to manage rather than code.
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:MBA? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:MBA? (Score:2)
I say good luck to him.
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
And he might want to teach.
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:MBA? (Score:2, Interesting)
To get back to the point, perhaps the guy wants to round out his education and skills. I know many people who find specialising in science and technology alone stifling.
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
The education provided in the MBA path is (to me) no more than a window into the vagaries of the management mind. A scary thought, indeed...but who doesn't wonder the "whys" of management?
Re:MBA? (Score:4, Informative)
No, it's more like "H1B holders do more work for the same money", i.e. 80 hour weeks with no complaints, on salary. And that salary will be at the bottom of the relevant scale, every time.
Further, the use of H1B holders is stupid for two unrelated reasons: you're shipping money to overseas economies, and you're training a workforce to compete against you once it returns home (which most do).
Again, using H1B workers and/or outsourcing is moronic in the long run, and is against the best interests of the United States and it's citizens.
Those are the facts, Jack.
Re:MBA? (Score:3, Insightful)
Silly me, and here I was thinking economy was not about holding on to money but about circulating money. The higher the pace of circulation, the better the economy.
Should the world follow your advice then not only world trade would slowly grind to a halt but your cost of living would sky-rocket, eventu
University Lecturer? (Score:2)
Re:University Lecturer? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:MBA? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
Unlike the world of MCSEs and A+ certifications, you don't go and "get" a degree. You earn a degree by learning important skills. He is not going to school just to get a piece of paper. In the case of an MBA, he will learn important management skills that take many years of real-world experience to learn. In business school, that take 1 to 2 years to master many of the skills.
Perhaps he wants to start a business? He is a great coder, good at managing source code trees, but an MBA will teach him about managing a business. Alan obviously isn't just trying to improve his resume, he's trying to improve himself.
Re:MBA? (Score:4, Insightful)
I've got both, as I'm sure do many on slashdot. The two are symbiotic, not the same.
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Informative)
A good MBA programme won't take you without experience. Typical students have worked for 3 to 8 years before applying to B-school.
Re:MBA? (Score:2)
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
An MBA has Nothing To Do With Coding Jobs (Score:4, Interesting)
All of Alan Cox's credentials as a kernel hacker can get him is a job as a coder (software developer, senior developer, development lead, etc). In some places it may be enough to get him a job as a software architect depending on the kind of company he tries to get work at.
However if Alan wants to break into upper management or start his own company then all his l337 kernel hacking skills aren't worth a hill of beans compared to the knowledge he could get from an MBA and the doors it opens.
Funnily enough, I was just thinking about going back to school for an MBA in a year or two but wondered if it would be a bad idea for a person so interested in technical pursuits. But if Alan Cox can do it I don't see why I can't.
Thanks for the inspiration Alan.
Re:An MBA has Nothing To Do With Coding Jobs (Score:3, Funny)
But, from what I've learnt, he better get a major haircut before those doors are closed.
Re:An MBA has Nothing To Do With Coding Jobs (Score:3, Funny)
I totally agree. Alan's an inspiration. In fact, I'm going to quit trimming my beard and grab me some sweet ass black shades.
Well, I'd like to at least, but once my beard gets to be 2 inches long (around 5cm for those of you outside the USA) I
Linux devs need day job .. [Humor] (Score:2)
Re:MBA? (Score:2)
Re:MBA? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:MBA? (Score:4, Insightful)
RP
Re:MBA? (Score:2, Insightful)
Signed,
A Bitter Programmer.
I can see if now... (Score:2)
Is this the start of kernel patch micropayments???
Re:MBA? (Score:2)
I know, it seems a total waste of his talents. MBA's are just little bit of paper to say you can lie convincingly with PowerPoint. I wouldn't include them under the heading of "education".
TWW
Re:MBA? (Score:2, Insightful)
It's still the best diploma in management. So, if he knows how a business work, maybe I'll be a lot more helpful in bringing Linux to the enterprise!
Re:MBA? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:MBA? (Score:3, Funny)
the truth! (Score:5, Funny)
The Truth is that Alan Cox has resigned from Linux development since he's not able to pay us the required development license (69,900$) we were asking to him. He preferred giving up instead of being sued to death as he deserves.
Cheers,
-- Darl MacBride
Re:the truth! (Score:4, Funny)
Linux thrives on it's coders not it's users.
(However a good chunk of it's users are coders and realisticly the users are head hunters for more coders)
Yester it was:
Hi I'm Timmy age 6 I made a rocket out of used toilet paper rolls.
(An impressive feat. The reason kids projects are inferoer to adult projects is available resources.)
Today it's
Hi I'm mike age 3 I fixed 37 bugs in the Linux kernel increased speed 7 times and created a feature critical to making the next generation computers possable.
Tomarow it's:
Hi I'm Steve age 2 I've learnned to steal becouse there is less chance of me going to jail for shoplifting than be sued by someone clamming they own the code I wrote.
(I was going to correct my grammer but I remembered that Steve is 2... I'll be dammed if a 2 year old has better grammer than I do.
A 5 year old yes.. but not a 2 year old)
Explain to me.. (Score:2)
Now I envision that each kernel steps through major revisions (2.2 -> 2.4 -> 2.6), but development continues on each revision. Is this right?
Re:Explain to me.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Good Luck with your MBA Alan! I went back to finish my BA at 28 and it was not easy to do in some ways, but it was really worth it.
Re:Explain to me.. (Score:2, Informative)
Patches can land on the current stable branch too (2.4.x) but normally only to fix bugs or add things that are very low risk.
As you surmised most new development happens in the latest version 2.5.x which is currently in the process of becoming the nex
Re:Explain to me.. (Score:2)
Summer job? (Score:5, Funny)
Taking Over (Score:5, Interesting)
What is the process involved in getting someone to take over 2.2 kernel and who has the final say in who is selected? I have always been curious about the more politcal side of GNU/Linux and your answers would be much appreciated.
Cheers!
Re:Taking Over (Score:2, Insightful)
The structure of Linux development and the GNU project are two totally different things. I'd recommend that you read The Cathedral and the Bazaar [catb.org] to get an idea. Essentially the GNU project is nothing to do with Linux.
Re:Taking Over (Score:5, Informative)
It's more tricky to say who will take over. Probably a kernel developer who uses 2.2 at work. Quite a few companies still use 2.2 but most kernel developers prefer to use 2.6 or 2.4. Maintaining an older kernel is boring...
Re:Taking Over (Score:3, Informative)
As far as the process getting involved? Start hacking away, submit patches, maybe eventually you'll get bitkeeper access and Linus will start trusting you and your judgement. You'll fall into you're own little role hacking away on the kernel, adding cool stuff, fixing bugs, etc.. Those are the people that are chosen for stable kernel maintenance.
Alan Cox is going to the NBA?? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Alan Cox is going to the NBA?? (Score:3, Funny)
I dunno about you, but I've already bought my tickets in advance for his match against the Clippers...
Suggestion (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Suggestion (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Suggestion (Score:2)
Happy thought... (Score:3, Funny)
What timing. (Score:5, Interesting)
Good luck Alan with the MBA, maybe you'll get paid what you're worth (finally).
a year to get an MBA? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:a year to get an MBA? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:a year to get an MBA? (Score:2)
Re:a year to get an MBA? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:a year to get an MBA? (Score:2)
Re:a year to get an MBA? (Score:4, Informative)
To Quote My Parents (Score:3, Interesting)
swap jobs (Score:3, Funny)
Papers? (Score:5, Funny)
He'll use Word ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I know this is supposed to be funny (Score:5, Insightful)
No, Word is the worst possible exchange format. It is proprietary to one corporation, it is a vector for script-based viruses, the tools that read it (other than Microsoft's products) cannot do so reliabily and predictably, and much of the world's population cannot and should not be expected to afford the MS Office software.
Given, also, the recent revival of awareness about hidden information exchanged in Word documents, Word is not only a terrible format in principle, but it is a threat to privacy and security in a most fundamental way.
So, Anonymous Astroturfer, you should go back to your cube and rethink your strategy for spreading lies into the public consciousness.
For basic exhange of information, the best formats are plain text (for text, obviously) or PDF (for type-set documents). Other formats are just asking for trouble.
Re:I know this is supposed to be funny (Score:5, Insightful)
That's because it is true.
When will people start realizing that there are free tools to handle Word format...
Where are they? Are they 100% compatible with Microsoft's undocumented, proprietary, and volatile document format? It is impossible for these tools to live up to their promises when there is a 100% likelihood their reverse-engineering efforts came up short.
Word is the format of choice even in the free-software-world
Only when Microsoft releases a 100% complete and comprehensible document explaining every aspect of the Word formats (yes there are more than one). Given that it is not in their financial interest to do so, I can guarantee that Word will basically never become the format of choice outside of the Microsoft micro-universe.
The most likely outcome is that one of the emerging XML formats, such as that for OpenOffice.org, will become the de-facto standard for editable document exchange. By then, I hope that Microsoft will be little more than a niche figment of their former selves (not unlike SCO, soon).
Re:I know this is supposed to be funny (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps the Docbook editor being added to OpenOffice.org will provide some relief. HTML isn't totally out of question, either (except that Word screws up HTML, too). And, once OpenOffice.org picks up more steam, its own plain-text XML file format should be widely understood, too.
Non-trivial documents should be done in LaTeX or Docbook, anyway, because they are much more robust and capable than Word. Word is really only appropriate for memos or reports, at most. Textbooks and standards documents done in Word are pretty sad.
Re:I know this is supposed to be funny (Score:3, Informative)
When crafting a large textbook, for example, LaTeX really does blow the pants off of Word. It allows a very clear structure to be employed through includes and a structured tagging scheme. It allows EPS graphics from charting applications to be imported. There is long-standing support for indexing and bibliographies. LaTeX can also be managed by version control software, such as CVS, and can be controlled by Makefiles for well-defined and repeatable configurati
And when he gets back (Score:2, Funny)
New Maintainer: Noooooooo! Mine!
Alan: but...
Possibly the willingness to give it back should be a quilification, unless Alan wants it back as his own personal branch.
SCO CEO (Score:3, Funny)
Obviously, RedHat figures they'll own SCO soon and need someone with an MBA to manage it for them. Alan Cox to the rescue!
A year off from what? (Score:2, Funny)
I need to take a year off from playing playstation, it's hard work, I need to focus on my edumcation.
Alan Who? (Score:3, Informative)
Dear Alan,
Thanks for the good work. We owe you one.
Sincerely,
Geeks of the World
The $699 question... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The $699 question... (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, and we do get quite a few geeks applying here already for a chance to meet Alan. Most of them have seen the credit to the Swansea University Computer Society [sucs.org] in the Linux kernel boot messages.
Vice Linus Torvalds Who? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've always been impressed with how much Alan Cox does for the Linux kernel.
He's technically very sharp and handles an incredible amount of incoming patches, very professionally.
For his talents, he ought to be paid handsomely, but for a number of years he's simply been a trusted chief lieutenant in charge of operations for the Linux kernel. Linus gets his mug on the magazines, while Alan Cox is pretty much known only in the geek community.
I hope Alan's MBA brings him the money he deserves. However, Linux kernel development will hiccough a bit more without him releasing all these 2.6.x-ac? kernels.
Welsh!!! (Score:3, Interesting)
No doubt he will breeze throught the MBA, but learning welsh is another matter, its a really really hard language to learn.
For example in most languages you have to learn how the verbs change in the sentance, but in welsh the nouns change too! For example the welsh word for Wales is Cymru, but when you say Welcome to Wales, "Croeso i Gymru", the C changes to a G. My patents both tried to learn and found it very hard. But then Alan may be like a lot of Welsh people who learnt welsh at school and has forgotten it since in which case picking it up again might not be too bad.
Tom.
Re:Welsh!!! (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course all the verbs , adjectives and adverbs change too just to make it really fun and natural russian speakers have a tendency to slur words
together making it impossible sometimes to understand what they're saying. I know how a voice recognition system feels now when you
say "I see you" and it comes out with "Icy ewe".
Life after Linux (Score:3, Interesting)
This group is very small. What will happen when significant percentage of them loses interest in further kernel development? What will happen if Linus himself moves on?
And how does Linux situation compare to other OSS projects - Apache, BSD?
Re:Life after Linux (Score:3, Insightful)
even with distrobutions, most everyone sticks with linus' kernel more or less. but if heavy forks were developed, all hell could break lose.
New language (Score:3, Funny)
Is that related to Lisp?
Re:Well if it's up for grabs... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Well if it's up for grabs... (Score:2)
"...The 2.2 tree needs a new maintainer, someone who can spend their entire life refusing patches, being ignored by the mainstream (because 2.2 is boring) and by vendors (who don't ship 2.2 any more)..." -Alan Cox
Emphasis mine.
Re:stupid question (Score:5, Funny)
Re:stupid question (Score:4, Informative)
Europe, on the other hand, offers a bucketload of one-year Master's programmes; it's not limited to just MBA programmes. (I did an MSc in London that was like this.) Generally 'taught' Masters are shorter than the 'research' Masters, the latter of which are considered the priming ground for PhD programmes (in both the UK and the US). Unlike the US, though, nonMBA Masters are considered pretty good in their own right.
Good luck to Cox, though. I'm looking into an MBA myself and it does not look nice. Pointy heads, here I come...
Re:stupid question (Score:2)
MBAs are pretty strange creatures - you dont tend to sit a set of exams on a rigid timetable - more you attend lectures, read material, submit views and papers - a whole stack of submersive learning. Kind of like a midpoint between a taught and research degree. When your school is happy with you - you pass - if they pass you too early you lower the overall standard of graduates cheapening their reputation. (and they lose another months fees!!)
Re:Which B-school, Alan? (Score:4, Funny)
I'm curious as to which B-school Alan will be attending. Will it be in the Raleigh/Durham area?
Eh! Last time I looked Alan lived in Swansea, in Wales, you know the United Kingdom? Despite appearances to the contratry, we have not yet picked the country up and moved it across the Atlantic to become another State...
Al.