[OpenAFS] OpenAFS on Linux 2.5.x

[Steven Jenkins]

Tino Schwarze wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 15, 2003 at 08:42:39PM -0700, Steven Jenkins wrote:
> 
> 
>>What do people think about forming an advocacy group? Maybe we'll make 
>>more headway with the Linux team if we ask them, as major organizational 
>>users of AFS, to help ensure that Linux in particular and open source 
>>software in general continues to be responsive to our needs.
> 
> 
> I don't think that this will get us anywhere with regard to Linux kernel
> support. The kernel developers have always ignored political issues.
> They only care for the technical side (which is a good thing IMO, but
> for AFS it is a bit unfortunate now). Therefore, if they say "no" to a
> patch from an AFS developer, they will also say "no" to the same patch
> from "International OpenAFS User Group".

You may be right. I am comletely naive with respect to the workings of 
Linux kernel development. Maybe they won't listen to us. That being 
said, the last thing an advocacy group should do is present this as a 
political issue.

The way to succeed (if any way exists), is to convince the Linux 
developers in good faith that supporting AFS advances *their* mission, 
not just ours--that it's good for Linux to have prominent universities, 
laboratories, and corporations adopt Linux *because*, in part, it's a 
good platform for AFS.

Steve