“Succession is always a time of uncertainty for those who like the way things are, and opportunity for those who do not.”
There is no plan for Linux after Torvalds. He believes the next leader will emerge naturally. Hope is not a strategy. Maintainers are already overstretched. Commercial pressure from companies like Red Hat keeps growing. The kernel has become critical infrastructure for the entire internet. Leaving succession to chance with no formal process invites corporate capture or fragmentation. The Linux community has decades of proof that Torvalds works. They have no proof that anything else will.