Linus's Law
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Linus's Law: 'Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.' The more people who look at the code, the more likely someone will spot the bug. It's the argument for open source and code review. One person misses things; a community finds them.
Real Talk
Linus's Law (coined by Eric Raymond, named for Linus Torvalds) suggests that software bugs are more easily found and fixed when examined by many contributors. It's a key argument for open-source development and thorough code review practices. Counterpoint: complex bugs may not be 'shallow' regardless of reviewers.
When You'll Hear This
"Linus's Law is why we do code reviews — fresh eyes catch what the author misses." / "Open source security relies on Linus's Law, but it assumes people actually read the code."
Related Terms
Brooks's Law
Brooks's Law: 'Adding people to a late software project makes it later.
Code Review
A code review is when another developer reads your code before it gets merged, looking for bugs, bad practices, or anything confusing.
Open Source
Open source means the recipe is public. Anyone can read it, copy it, tweak it, and share their version. It's the opposite of a secret sauce.
Pair Programming
Pair programming is two people at one computer — one types (driver), one thinks strategically (navigator).