Community Matters

Most every year, as we prepare for the kernel summit, this topic comes up. How do we ensure Linux doesn’t turn into the old boys club. How do we attract new developers and get them to grow into bigger roles into the developer community.

It’s a typical application of the ten thousand hour rule. You start working on the kernel. It will take you about ten thousand hours to become an expert and be truly able to work on the next level, owning a subsystem, be truly a leader. According to research by Anders Ericsson that is a fairly consistent threshold how long it takes to reach true greatness in any art form. Music, painting, computer programming.

If you manage to spend 20 hours a week hacking the kernel that will take you about ten years. At which point you will no longer be perceived as “new blood”. If you are one if the few people willing and able to hack 80 hours a week you can get there in about two and a half years and be one of the very few brilliant newcomers we see. Maybe one or two every other year.

So the next time people ask about the new blood, I think we should turn around and ask them if they are looking at this the right way.