Re: [GIT PULL] bcachefs changes for 6.17

Kent Overstreet
2025-08-10T05:17:41Z

On Sat, Aug 09, 2025 at 09:26:16PM -0700, Gerald B. Cox wrote:
> Please excuse, sending this again because I forgot to put in plain text mode.
>
> Been watching this thread unfold. There are valid concerns, sure—but
> I’d caution folks against mistaking frustration for hostility.
>
> Kent’s been carrying a heavy load with bcachefs, and it shows. Solo
> stewardship at this scale isn’t just technical—it’s psychological.
> When someone’s under pressure and feels attacked, responses get sharp.
> That’s not ideal, but it’s not malicious either.
>
> If we’re serious about maintaining a healthy kernel community, we need
> to be better at recognizing when someone’s burning out—and not make it
> worse. The CoC isn’t just there to call out bad behavior; it’s
> supposed to guide us toward empathy and restraint.
>
> Kent, if you’re reading this: it’s clear you’re reacting to what feels
> like a pile-on. That’s understandable. But at this point, stepping
> back might serve you better than continuing to reply. Let the code
> speak. Let others weigh in. You’ve done the hard part—now give it
> room.

Thanks; I really appreciate this response.

The thing is, the burnout isn't coming from bcachefs. It has been an
absolutely monumental effort - but looking back and where we're at now,
I can't describe how lucky I and the bcachefs community have been at how
smoothly it's gone. I've been doing storage for a long time, and I know
what can happen when things go badly; when I look at the bug tracker now
I count my lucky stars.

And the bcachefs community has been amazing, I have a ton of people I
work with on a daily basis, and people see and appreciate the work I do;
when people show up with bugs to report - people are often shocked at
how quickly we're able to get it sorted, it's almost always downright
pleasant experiences where we all get to learn something and someone new
joins the community. I'm honestly proud of the community I've built and
proud of the people I work with.

We've got more engineers coming in and getting up to speed on the code
(THANK YOU ALAN for all the work you've done on the syzbot bugs!);
funding is now stable (Thank you, Valve! They do a ton of amazing stuff
for Linux).

But dealing with upstream has left me at my wit's end, and well past
that. I'm not going to describe the effects it's caused... I'll just
leave off there.