Linus Torvalds on binary compatibility

The epic letter of Linus Torvalds dated March 8, 2012 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List is difficult to translate due to the abundant use of expressive vocabulary.

Written in response to a post by Eric W. Biederman on the same day.

>> Maintaining compatibility is quite simple, so it's
>> worth it, but support for 30+ years of backward compatibility ... It's worth it

.

The point is * not * in some arbitrarily taken "30-year backward compatibility."

The fact is that your patch is BREAKING EXISTING BINARS.

So stop flogging nonsense already! They showed that the patch is unusable, stop composing excuses and carry nonsense.

The end of the story. Binary compatibility is more important than * any * of your patches. If you continue to make arguments or make excuses, I will ask people to completely ignore your patches.

Indeed. Binary compatibility is * so * important that I do not want to deal with kernel developers who do not understand this importance. If you continue to neglect it, you will only show your insecurity. Do not do that.

Damn it, I keep wondering * idiots * around who don’t realize that binary compatibility is one of the top priorities. * The only * reason for the existence of the OS kernel is to serve the user space. The kernel does not make sense on its own. Breaking down existing binaries - and then not understanding how terribly bad he did - is just * the worst * wrongdoing that any kernel developer can do.

Because it shows their misunderstanding, what is the whole * sense * of the kernel as such. Here we do not masturbate with some kind of scientific project. And they never did. Even when Linux was young, the common and only goal was to create a * convenient * system. That’s why now it’s not some crazy steroids-pumped micronucleus or any other crazy thing.

Indeed.
                        Linus