Linus releases dive tracking application

Torvald's subsurface in action
Source: Linus Torvalds If you have ever wondered what the creator of Linux does in-between working through the thousands of changes, corrections and new features for the next Linux release, the answer is simple: he writes software. Linus Torvalds has just released subsurface, a dive-tracking program designed after he found that "none of the dive log software worked for me". The subsurface application runs on Linux and uses gtk2 for the GUI. It can process xml dive files or work directly with any dive computer supported by libdivecomputer.

Torvalds has been diving for a few years now but subsurface is, apparently, the work of only a few weeks. On the github home page the README file describes the application as "Half-arsed divelog software in C" and includes a "WARNING! I wasn't kidding when I said that I've done this by reading gtk2 tutorials as I've gone along". That said, the application already supports import, PDF export and printing, and produces visually appealing dive charts. Subsurface is licensed under the GPLv2 and Torvalds invites developers to contribute patches.

If you are more interested in the thousands of changes, corrections and new features for the next Linux release that Linus has been working with, you may wish to consult The H's Kernel Log and the "Coming in Linux 3.1" mini-series:

• Kernel Log: Coming in 3.1 - Part 1 - Networking
• Kernel Log: Coming in 3.1 - Part 2 - Storage and filesystems
• Kernel Log: Coming in 3.1 - Part 3 - Architecture, infrastructure, virtualisation
• Kernel Log: Coming in 3.1 - Part 4 - Drivers

(djwm)