Yesterday I wrote about the difference of opinion over Core 2 Duo bugs between BSD and Linux leaders. That's just a small part of a larger issue of the open source software community being pulled in different directions. On the one side you have the people who write code, and on the other you have people who tell us all what to do. Everybody wants to be the queen bee, but in reality we already have too many.

Here's a link I wish I'd had yesterday: Are top Linux developers losing the will to code?. The headline is a little misleading -- it's a brief news story that explains the basics of how the Linux kernel is changed and released, not an analysis of Linux hacker burnout or just about anything else you'd expect from it. Still, it underscores the fact that the big names in Linux kernel development are not doing much coding these days.

Managers are necessary, and I think that the way the Linux kernel development process works is useful (for now, anyway) and dynamic, but this is all a big departure from the origins of open source development. It used to be a meritocracy, where the people who wrote the most useful code had the most respected voices. Linus got where he is because he wrote the original kernel himself. When Linux needed a new source code tracking system, Linus wrote a new one. That's why it's so surprising that he dismissed the Intel processor bugs. He should have treated them seriously, but it seems like ever since the first warning shots fired by the SCO Group over Linux copyright infringement claims, Linus's default reaction to every potential problem is to downplay its significance.

Linus' job is leaning more towards spokesman than programmer. He's been a relatively effective manager up until now, but I think that effectiveness will begin to erode rapidly with time. The further you get away from the actual work, the less you are able to accurately judge the appropriateness of other people's work. You need to stay in the game -- you need to keep your skills in condition. If you don't, you might understand the theory pretty well, but you'll get further and further away from being in touch with its application. Linus has become more of a talker and less of a coder. I hope that changes soon.

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