'It's better to burn out, than to fade away on worst audio in history'

Torvalds & Gmail

Reading the commentary on the Gmail item is a salutary experience.

I'd have thought that El Reg's readership would know that:

1. The Linux kernel is developed in public via a mailing list. That list has an easily discovered archive that anyone can read. There is no message on there that needs to be kept confidential because no message on there can be kept confidential.

2. Because the content of the mailing list is public there is no disadvantage in any member of the mailing list subscribing with an address run by a provider who will mine the mail contents.

3. Running a large email server is a pain and a waste of time you don't need unless it's your specific job. So it's something to outsource to someone whose specific job it is.

4. Neither an email server nor a spam filter has any place in the Linux kernel.

5. The kernel is the only part of a Linux distribution in which Linux participates.

And yet so many commentators seem unaware of some or all of the above. Did they wander in here off the street?

BTW I nominate Esme's comment that thread for comment of the week.