Linus Torvalds thinks he is no longer a programmer

At the Open Source Summit Europe, Linux author, Linus Torvalds said in a conversation with VMware chief open source officer, Dirk Hohndel that he no longer considers himself a programmer. Torvalds explained:

“I don’t know coding at all anymore. Most of the code I write is in my e-mails. So somebody sends me a patch … I [reply with] pseudo code. I’m so used to editing patches now I sometimes edit patches and send out the patch without having ever tested it. I literally wrote it in the mail and say, ‘I think this is how it should be done,’ but this is what I do, I am not a programmer.”

Torvalds said his job is to read and respond to a large number of emails, and then say “no” at the end, and someone must say no, which will prompt developers to write better code.

In other words, Torvalds is now a program manager and maintainer, no longer a developer. He said that maintainers need to respond to the code submitted by the developer in a timely manner, which will make developers feel that their work can at least get feedback.

Via: ZDNet