CNN Sits Down With Linus Torvalds 264
just_another_sean writes "Calling him 'reclusive' and the 'leader of the Open Source Revolution' CNN has an interview with Linus Torvalds. From the article: "I actually only work with a few handfuls so I tend to directly interact with maybe 10 - 20 people and they in turn interact with other people. So depending on how you count, if you count just the core people, 20 -50 people. If you count everybody who's involved; five thousand people -- and you can really put the number anywhere in between... Almost, pretty much all, real work is done over e-mail so it doesn't matter where people are."
The proper term (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Leader? (Score:4, Informative)
"KLS: Over the years, Linux has spawned other open technologies and even an open source spirit or open source philosophy. It has engendered stuff like Wikipedia, the online open source encyclopedia or even, some could argue, citizen journalism. What are your thoughts about that?"
LT: We shouldn't give credit to Linux per se. There were open source projects and free software before Linux was there. Linux in many ways is one of the more visible and one of the bigger technical projects in this area and it changed how people looked at it because Linux took both the practical and ideological approach. At the same time I don't think this whole "openness" notion is new. In fact I often compare open source to science. To where science took this whole notion of developing ideas in the open and improving on other peoples' ideas and making it into what science is today, and the incredible advances that we have had. And I compare that to witchcraft and alchemy, where openness was something you didn't do. So openness is not something new, it is something that actually has worked for a long time"
Re:I Can Hear It Now... (Score:2, Informative)
What Stallman calls GNU/Linux is what distributions distribute. i.e. Linux (a kernel) + GNU (a shell / compilation toolchain) + X (a window system) + a desktop environment + a bunch of servers + 93 scripting languages, all under different licenses + a whole bunch of other things.
Re:The real question is... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It's good to see that he didn't bite (Score:2, Informative)
No comment on the respectability (or lack thereof) of CNN, but it's not apt to compare them to the BBC. The BBC is a public broadcasting company; CNN is private.
The BBC is more comparable to PBS, although I believe the BBC is funded, at least in part, through a direct tax on those who use the service by way of a "tv license" that one must buy to purchase a tv, while public media in the US compete for grants from the CPB, which is in turn funded by taxes.
(Not to start another flamewar about public broadcasting and taxation in the US...just wanted to point out that if your impression of the interview is "It seemed like they were just looking for some big scoop with regards to people being Anti-Microsoft..." that could be explained by the profit motive inherent in a private news company.)
Re:The real question is... (Score:1, Informative)
Linus was in The 5 Keys to Mastery with Stephen Tobolowsky
Stephen Tobolowsky was in Murder in the First with Kevin Bacon
Who's the leader? (Score:5, Informative)
The headline asks the question if he is the leader, its not a statement but since you brought it up, whom would you declare the OSS leader? Al Gore?
Maybe, but only if he picks Feingold as his running mate.
But seriously, it would have to be RMS. Linus pointedly isn't trying to lead a movement (at a conference he reportedly said "I really don't like the idea of thousands of people following me. (pause) But I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me where the men's room is.").
RMS, on the otherhand, has been pointently "leading" for going on three decades now.
--MarkusQ
P.S. And what Gore actually said was: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system." Which was true.
As Vincent Cerf, said "The Internet would not be where it is in the United States without the strong support given to it and related research areas by the Vice President [Gore] in his current role and in his earlier role as Senator."
And Dave Ferber said without Gore the Internet "would not be where it is today."
And Marc Andreesen said "Gore made [Mosaic] possible with the High Performance Computing Act."
And Joseph E. Traub said "[Gore] was perhaps the first political leader to grasp the importance of networking the country. Could we perhaps see an end to cheap shots from politicians and pundits about inventing the Internet?"
See Seth's page. [sethf.com]