Today toward the end of 2010 is no different, with an acquisition of Novell in the works, with massive changes in automatic Linux graphics configuration and in hardware detection maturing in openSUSE.

The Mike Galbraith patch noted in the thread http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-help-here/install-boot-login/450079-new-kernel-speed-up-patch-file-mike-galbraith.html is another such example, and that is not the only thread in openSUSE forums discussing this. Another vibrant thread is here http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-help-here/applications/449920-how-would-i-apply-phoronix-patch.html where there was discussion over the merits of the 200 line patch vs the alternative.

Of course in the forums we are at the distant user side “in the trenches”, far from the developers. But we can’t help but try to look upstream past the haze surrounding the view, as we peer past the packagers and try to peer into the motives and intentions of the developers, as they contribute to Linux functionalities that eventually benefit us the users.

It’s interesting to do so, and indeed these are most interesting times!