Kernel space: Interview with Andrew Morton

Do you have any specific goals for the development of the kernel over the next year or so? What would they be?

Steady as she goes, basically.

I keep on hoping that kernel development in general will start to ramp down. There cannot be an infinite number of new features out there! Eventually we should get into more of a maintenance mode where we just fix bugs, tweak performance and add new drivers. Famous last words.

And it's just vaguely possible that we're starting to see that happening now. I do get a sense that there are less "big" changes coming in. When I sent my usual 1000-patch stream at Linus for 2.6.26 I actually received an email from him asking (paraphrased) "hey, where's all the scary stuff?"

In the early-May discussions, Linus said a couple of times that he does not think code review helps much. Do you agree with that point of view?

Nope.

How would you describe the real role of code review in the kernel development process?

Well, it finds bugs. It improves the quality of the code. Sometimes it prevents really really bad things from getting into the product. Such as rootholes in the core kernel. I've spotted a decent number of these at review time.

It also increases the number of people who have an understanding of the new code - both the reviewer(s) and those who closely followed the review are now better able to support that code.

Also, I expect that the prospect of receiving a close review will keep the originators on their toes - make them take more care over their work.

There clearly must be quite a bit of communication between you and Linus, but much of it, it seems, is out of the public view. Could you describe how the two of you work together? How are decisions (such as when to release) made?

Actually we hardly ever say anything much. We'll meet face-to-face once or twice a year and "hi how's it going".

We each know how the other works and I hope we find each other predictable and that we have no particular issues with the other's actions. There just doesn't seem to be much to say, really.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Sure. Please do contribute to Linux, and a great way of doing that is to test latest mainline or linux-next or -mm and to report on any problems which you encounter.

Nothing special is needed - just install it on as many machines as you dare and use them in your normal day-to-day activities.

If you do hit a bug (and you will) then please be persistent in getting us to fix it. Don't let us release a kernel with your bug in it! Shout at us if that's what it takes. Just don't let us break your machines.

Our testers are our greatest resource - the whole kernel project would grind to a complete halt without them. I profusely thank them at every opportunity I get.