I don't think that explains it, there is a structure (various levels of mainteners) and mainteners aren't outright malicious.
Theoretically there is also a CoC.
The problem's more that you're going to have strong conflicts of opinions that you can't hash out face to face between people who are already overworked and under stress
It's hard for devs, but you also have people quitting because the maintener position is not just thankless, but fucking thankless.
It is not as simple as reviewers abusing developpers because of a lack of structure. A large part of the kernel is under resourced, lacking mainteners, and that is stressful for everyone
Theoretically there is also a CoC.
The problem's more that you're going to have strong conflicts of opinions that you can't hash out face to face between people who are already overworked and under stress
It's hard for devs, but you also have people quitting because the maintener position is not just thankless, but fucking thankless.
It is not as simple as reviewers abusing developpers because of a lack of structure. A large part of the kernel is under resourced, lacking mainteners, and that is stressful for everyone