The room discussed various options but, per LWN.net, “it is sufficient to say that there was not a lot of disagreement” before two things were agreed upon. The first was acknowledging that there are already some provisions in place, with multiple people being able to commit to Torvalds’ repository, and redundancy measures in place for the stable repository.

The hoped-for scenario is that Torvalds will decide to step back, arrange a smooth transition to any replacement himself, and go off to enjoy a long retirement. Torvalds made it known he has no plans in this direction anytime soon, but why would he.

Then the big question: what if something goes wrong that does prevent this smooth transition, whether it’s a freak skydiving incident or Bill Gates in the library with a candlestick. “As I put it in the discussion,” writes LWN.net co-founder Jonathan Corbet, “in the absence of an agreed-upon process, the community would find itself playing Calvinball at an awkward time.”