Re: [PATCH 1/2 v2] bcachefs: do not use PF_MEMALLOC_NORECLAIM

Martin Steigerwald
2024-11-21T21:36:14Z

Hi Shuah, hi everyone.

Shuah, I appreciate your effort to resolve the Code of Conduct issue.

Also I make no judgment about the technical matter at hand. Basically I do
not even have a clear idea on what it is about. So I am just commenting on
the Code of Conduct enforcement process:

Shuah Khan - 20.11.24, 23:21:06 MEZ:
> I didn't pick up on your desire to apologize after the discussion in
> our conversation.
>
> Are you saying you will be happy to make amends with an apology after
> the discussion and debate?

Do you really think that power-playing Kent into submission by doing a
public apology is doing anything good to resolve the issue at hand?

While it may not really compare to some of the wording Linus has used
before having been convinced to change his behavior… I do not agree with
the wording Kent has used. I certainly do not condone it.

But this forced public apology approach in my point of view is very likely
just to cement the division instead of heal it. While I publicly disagreed
with Kent before, I also publicly disagree with this kind of Code of
Conduct enforcement. I have seen similar patterns within the Debian
community and in my point of view this lead to the loss of several Debian
developers who contributed a lot to the project while leaving behind
frustration and unresolved conflict.

No amount of power play is going to resolve this. Just exercising
authority is not doing any good in here. This needs mediation, not forced
public humiliation.

To me, honestly written, this whole interaction feels a bit like I'd
imagine children may be fighting over a toy. With a majority of the
children grouping together to single out someone who does not appear to fit
in at first glance. I mean no offense with that. This is just the impression
I got so far. The whole interaction just does not remind me of respectful
communication between adult human beings. I have seen it with myself… in
situations where it was challenging for me to access what I learned, for
whatever reason, I had been acting similarly to a child. So really no
offense meant. This is just an impression I got and wanted to mirror back
to you for your consideration.

I'd make three changes to the current approach regarding Kent's behavior:

1) Take it to private mediation.

2) Move it from mail to actually talking with one another. Resolving
conflicts by mail exchange is hard. Maybe voice / video chat. Or meeting in
person, in case it possible. In other words: *Talk to each other*! Mail is
really very bad for things like that.

3) Assume good intentions!

And the best first step for everyone involved may just be: Take a deep
breath and let it sit for a while. Maybe there is something to learn from
this for everyone involved, including myself.

I have and claim no standing in kernel community. So take this for
whatever it is worth for you.

Best,
--
Martin