To be fair, Linus <i>did</i> change. That charge about not valuing version control and systematic release practices? He built git in 2005. Kernel release practices are now a well-oiled machine. And overall the kernel has likely got more modular, not less, over the years (although I have not had a look in a while, but that was the trend a few years ago).<p>ESR might have been wrong on the specific item at hand (I have not read the whole thread, and he, ESR was wrong on <i>a lot</i> of things over the years) but some of his arguments are definitely right - at least seen from a &quot;gifted something&quot; who flopped in uni ;)