[$] Kernel quality control, or the lack thereof

Filesystem developers tend toward a high level of conservatism when it
comes to making changes; given the consequences of mistakes, this seems
like a healthy survival trait. One might rightly be tempted to regard a
recent disagreement over the backporting of filesystem-related fixes to the
stable kernels as an example of this conservatism, but there is more to
it. The kernel development process has matured in many ways over the
years; perhaps this discussion hints at some of the changes that will be
needed to continue that maturation in the future.