Linus Torvalds On GCC 4.9: Pure & Utter Crap

[schmidtbag]

@sdack
I understand what you're saying and I think you make some good points, but I think what you're forgetting is, in Linus' eyes, gcc 4.9 was released without even being properly tested. If its showing errors from things that don't really matter, there could be MUCH worse consequences. Linus is on a timed schedule and his job depends on the reliability and consistency of the software he uses. While I think this was a serious over-reaction, he's not wrong.

[computerquip]

I think Linus lacked a bit of sympathy here or perhaps he's used to haters calling his software garbage. I'm sure he doesn't like it when they do call his software garbage.
I can understand when reacting with discomfort and frustration. This is more along the lines of being blatantly offensive though just to piss people off. Seems like a marketing technique or something.

[johnc]

Nice Goonies reference.

[smitty3268]

He then does not need gcc-4.9 when gcc-4.8 did the job for him just fine. Not to mention his dislike for LTO, which makes his attempt at switching to 4.9 look incompetent, because 4.9 is all about bringing stability to this new feature. So what exactly is it he wants with 4.9 if it is not just for getting a free update?

Linus isn't even using 4.9, he's on 4.8.3. You apparently didn't actually read what he said, because he's just analyzing the generated code someone else reported was causing a kernel crash.

So now there is a bug in gcc-4.9, and it makes some of the output look silly.

The underlying gcc bug actually exists back to 4.5, it just happened to only trigger on this code in 4.9.

Linus needs to take a step back. His behaviour is irrational. He is being rude and emo-rages over other people's code like a 14-year old boy.

He wrote 1 email with a few sentences talking about how the code generation here sucks. If you look at the rest of the list and the bug reports, he also wrote about a dozen more where he was quite calm and helpful in trying to fix the problem.

This is another case of the media latching on to a sentence or two, taking them out of context, and then convincing people there is something noteworthy about it. If you've never said something sucks before in an email - well, i don't believe you.

[Akka]

Linux and OpenBSD have been proving you wrong for over 20 years now.

In so nice company Linus should threat the GCC project with mail bomb the gcc mailing list!

[dungeon]

And he does not wrote, "GCC is Pure & Utter Crap" that is what Phoronix says . He just says to the bug reporter "your compiler is pure and utter *shit*" Where shit is not an my shit, but your *shit* .

It is like Firefox ESR and Firefox Release, when one user says your Release is *shit*, because i am using older ESR *shit* .

[sdack]

I think Linus lacked a bit of sympathy here or perhaps he's used to haters calling his software garbage. I'm sure he doesn't like it when they do call his software garbage.
I can understand when reacting with discomfort and frustration. This is more along the lines of being blatantly offensive though just to piss people off. Seems like a marketing technique or something.

It is not sympathy he is lacking, but wisdom. The knowledge, which comes with experience. But it is like you say. He should know from his own experience how much work it is to run a project of this size, the problems it creates, and what it feels like when somebody comes a long and dumps an obviously stupid opinion on it. It is not the first time though and his rages are getting into the news. People will start to wonder if he is really needed to keep Linux alive or if it will continue without him. And frankly, I do not see why the Linux kernel project would not continue without him.

I am only worried about the big companies that are using Linux more and more often. It is no fun explaining to your bosses how Linux makes everything better, when its creator is developing such ludicrous behaviour and is making news with it.

[cb88]

And he does not wrote, "GCC is Pure & Utter Crap" that is what Phoronix says . He just says to the bug reporter "your compiler is pure and utter *shit*" Where shit is not an my shit, but your *shit* .

It is like Firefox ESR and Firefox Release, when one user says your Release is *shit*, because i am using older ESR *shit* .

Ghetto lingo aside calling something s**t is worse than calling it crap.... crap just just a notch worse than garbage :P

[wargames]

Calm down

Calm down Linus haters. He is not attacking anyone, he is just saying gcc is a piece of crap. In a world full of sub-standard programmers, we should be grateful that there are still "real" programmers (binary riders) out there that know the low level stuff.

[dungeon]

Ghetto lingo aside calling something s**t is worse than calling it crap.... crap just just a notch worse than garbage :P

That is what Linus like, it is not enough to calling something just *shit* . With "pure and utter" it sound better .