From the ‘Kernel.org Hack Fallout’ files:
Last week’s hack of kernel.org is an event that should never have happened. Yes it’s true that the nature of Linux development means that the kernel itself isn’t at much risk for the actual hack. The fact that kernel.org maintainers were unaware of the hack for 17 days is extremely disturbing.
The hack has disrupted operations on kernel.org which has prompted Linus Torvalds to release Linux 3.1 rc 5 on github – that’s right github – instead of kernel.org
Now officially speaking at this point, Torvalds has stated that the github repo will become just another mirror once kernel.org is restored.
From my personal perspective, I’m hoping that the github site remains the core site for kernel development.
Even now, kernel.org does not list the Linux 3.1 rc 5 link (even as a link to Github) and who knows how long it will take kernel.org administrators to finish their security audit. I think that it is entirely conceivable (and maybe even probable) that the Linux 3.1 release itself will be made available first on Github as well.
Github is a good home for Linux. Sure Github is ‘just’ a hosting repo site for Linus’ kernel git tree but it has got great tools and a usable interface too.
There are a lot of people (myself included) that spend lots of time on github and having Linux there is really a step forward. Github’s built-in site tools make it easier/faster for regular humans to look at and work with code (and hey we can’t forget the cloning) all through a browser interface.
Just take a look at the stats on Github already for Linux, after barely 24 hours of Linux availability. There are already 1,943 watchers and 126 forks; from an activity perspective there have been nearly 50,000 page views for the project since it was launched.
Having Linux on Github also means that Linux benefit from the security, management and infrastructure that Github already has – that’s an an economy of scale that the great people and kernel.org (talented and dedicated as they are) can’t match.
