Andres Aguiar's Weblog

Just My Code

Linux is unmaintainable

An interesting study from the Vanderbilt University,  Three Unexpected Results in Open-Software Engineering, reaches to three conclusions:

1. Linus's Law is not applicable to open-source software development

2. Linux in unmaintainable

3. The LST result is false   (I did not know what the 'LST' was, but it's explained in the powerpoints).

Remember... don't blame the messenger! ;)

 

Comments

chadbr said:

2. Linux in unmaintainable
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hah - DUH!
# May 7, 2004 11:40 AM

Julien Couvreur (Dumky) said:

They categorize the bug fixers, not the bug reporters (the eyes).

Maintainability of Linux: I'm sure if the number of coupling grows beyond what they can manage, they will evolve the model or find paradigm shifts.

What's the biais introduced by looking at Linux, RTP and GCC? All three are platforms for others to develop on top of. Is that what most OSS is? Or did they just forget to look at other types of applications?
What I'm saying is that their data may or may not apply to OSS in general, but the examples they picked make perfect sense in terms of proving there is a lot of corrective changes.
# May 7, 2004 2:04 PM

Dennis said:

If Linux is unmaintainable then why are they continuing to develop at a rapid rate, with a low incidence of bugs?
# May 7, 2004 3:52 PM

TrackBack said:

# May 14, 2004 11:53 AM