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Paul E. McKenney on Life as a Linux Kernel Maintainer

Recorded July 7, 2026, this Linux Foundation mentorship session features Paul E. McKenney discussing his experience as a kernel developer and maintainer.
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The Linux Foundation’s on-demand LF Live: Mentorship Series session with Paul E. McKenney was recorded on July 7, 2026, and moderated by Shuah Khan. Its official description says McKenney discusses his experience as a Linux kernel developer and maintainer, including the technical and interpersonal skills and mindset that can help sustain long-term involvement. The page describes the session as complimentary and provides a recording, but no transcript.

What the session covers

This is a recorded mentorship conversation, not a book or a technical tutorial. The Linux Foundation frames it around McKenney’s experience in kernel development and maintenance, with attendee questions and discussion of how to remain engaged over time. Its description identifies technical skills, interpersonal skills, and mindset as themes; it does not provide a detailed account of the conversation.

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That distinction matters if you are looking for specific recommendations: the published description establishes the subjects, but not the particular advice or anecdotes McKenney gave. The session is part of the Linux Foundation’s virtual LF Live mentorship series, which the Foundation describes as a free program for expert knowledge and interactive discussion on Linux kernel and other operating-system development topics. See the Linux Foundation mentorship series.

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Why Paul E. McKenney’s perspective is relevant

The Linux Foundation describes McKenney as best known as the co-inventor and lead maintainer of the Linux kernel’s RCU implementation. RCU—read-copy-update—is a synchronization technique used in concurrent systems; its maintenance places the discussion in the context of both complex systems work and long-running collaboration.

The Foundation’s event biography also says McKenney has coded for five decades, spent more than half that time working on parallel hardware, and serves on the C and C++ standards committees with concurrency expertise. These are biographical claims made by the event host, rather than independently audited career statistics. The same biography reports more than 300 other publications and more than 10,000 citations; those counts should likewise be understood as the Foundation’s figures. Read the official event page and speaker biography.

Who may find it useful

  • New kernel contributors: The stated focus on maintainer experience and interpersonal skills may help frame the responsibilities that accompany technical contributions.
  • Experienced open-source developers: The session is explicitly concerned with staying engaged over time, a relevant theme for people balancing ongoing maintenance with other work.
  • Readers interested in concurrency: McKenney’s RCU and parallel-systems background makes the event relevant to those exploring how concurrency expertise intersects with kernel development.

These are reasons to consider the session based on its published scope, not claims about conclusions or lessons contained in the recording.

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Where to watch and what else to read

Use the Linux Foundation event page to access the on-demand recording and confirm its event details. The page identifies the recording date as July 7, 2026, and Shuah Khan as moderator. No transcript is listed on the page.

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For separate technical background, McKenney’s open-source book Is Parallel Programming Hard, And, If So, What Can You Do About It? is available from kernel.org. The current release page identifies version v2026.06.21a and offers PDF formats; it says the default two-column layout is best suited to paperback form. The book is companion reading on parallel programming, not a transcript or a way to access the webinar. View the book and available formats on kernel.org.

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