Linus's Law

Definitions

1. Linus's Law is the observation that given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow, meaning that with a sufficiently large number of reviewers and testers, virtually every problem in software will be quickly identified and fixed by someone. The law was named by Eric S. Raymond in his influential 1997 essay The Cathedral and the Bazaar, in honor of Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux. It argues that open-source development produces higher-quality software than proprietary development because the source code is available to millions of potential reviewers. When many developers independently examine the same code, bugs that a small team might miss are caught by the diverse perspectives and expertise of the broader community. The law has been both celebrated and criticized. Supporters point to the quality and security of major open-source projects like Linux, PostgreSQL, and Apache. Critics argue that having available eyeballs is not the same as having engaged, competent reviewers, and that the Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL demonstrated that critical code can go unexamined despite widespread use.

   In plain English: The idea that if enough people look at code, every bug will be found quickly — the argument for why open-source software should be more secure.

Related Terms

• Open Source
• BDFL
• Linux
• Patch Review
• SWH