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."
Did he just compare Microsoft to witchcraft? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Zing!
Re:He needs to take some lessons from Steve Jobs (Score:2, Interesting)
I sometimes think RMS matches Yoda in thiw way too!
a Stallman quote on Linus' leadership (Score:4, Interesting)
Talking about a t-shirt which showed Linus as a sword-wielding leader:
"It's ironic," says Stallman mournfully. "Picking up that sword is exactly what Linus refuses to do. He gets everybody focusing on him as the symbol of the movement, and then he won't fight. What good is it?"
From Chapter 13 of the biography of Stallman [faifzilla.org].
Re:Leader? (Score:5, Interesting)
I would. I mean its pretty much between RMS and Linus, and I would give it to Linus.
Sure GNU did come first and Linux would be impotent without it, but Linus has something Stallman does not. Brand name recognition and a damn good OS that powers a bunch of the internet, routers, printers, digital picture frames, you name it.
Also, Linus is more suit and general public friendly than RMS will ever be.
If its not Linus or Stallman, who is the OSS leader or is there no leader but rather just a bizarre style of underground thing?
Re:Why `reclusive?' (Score:2, Interesting)
Are you trying to be funny? (Score:5, Interesting)
If by "dominate the gadgets market" you mean selling lots of iPods, maybe you are right. But "home base for open source"? The Apple operating system isn't open source, for chrissake! There's no intersection between Linux and Apple, Linux is an open source operating system, Apple is a system which has some open source elements, but the OS isn't one of them. It used to be but, thanks to the BSD license, that detail has been fixed.
As for this "cutting edge development", could you be so kind and point us to any big OSS project whose development began in Apple and was later adopted by others? I mean, like Konqueror was the basis for Safari, only the other way round?
Oh, sorry, I forgot, don't feed the trolls, or maybe that big "whooosh" was the joke going over my head?
Re:Leader? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'll confess to this. I purchase products to run linux, and products known to run linux, and products not known to run linux with the intention of running linux. I do this because it's linux. The reason it matters why it's linux is because I know that I will probably be able to use this hardware and exploit it's resources in ways that are limited by other software - be it windows, osx, wm5.0, xbox kernel, etc. I also know the product will be very flexible, or could be if I chose to spend the time. I purchase it also because it's generally lower cost because there's no software license - though it could be higher cost because they actually have to put quality hardware in because it has to work with linux. I choose linux because though there's normally not commercial support available, I know the guys who will be doing the supporting are almost always technically minded and normally know a thing or two more than an average person who purchase hardware. I choose linux because it's clear that linux will be around for a very long time, with any other os, I wouldn't be so sure. I choose linux because I can modify the code even if every other developer in the world has long given up on it. I choose linux because it's very secure in it's native form and moreso if you spend some time configuring it.
So what exactly are the arguments for NOT choosing linux again? Do they outweight the above? Probably not for me, though I admit I am a rational being and my choices are subject to change.
I used GNU before Linux existed (Score:4, Interesting)
If you ask me, the biggest contribution of Linux was turning the OSS movement from a "niche" to a "community". Linux got a recognition from the mainstream software world that GNU never came even close to obtaining.
Re:It's good to see that he didn't bite (Score:4, Interesting)
Just watch how they react to news stories on the air - you'll see it after awhile as long as you pay attention. Just like MSNBC and Fox News (although to different points of view).
Major television news outlets in the US are worthless, and this comes from a US citizen.
Re:Leader? (Score:1, Interesting)
thanks Linus (Score:2, Interesting)
I always enjoy reading interviews with Linus. They are rare which makes them more enjoyable. Linus is an interesting guy and probably a model for a significant number of geeks in the world. So thanks for granting an interview and making my life better.
S.
PS. someone should tell him that people DO HATE microsoft.
Re:Leader? (Score:3, Interesting)
So true, I agree completely. Just like ESR's "Cathedral and the Bazaar", OSS is the bazaar, there is no real leader, someone to sue, someone to blame, its just there, and it works, and that is what scares the suits and whatnot.
I see Linux as "ours". It started out as Linus' baby, but its free, and anybody is capable of doing a fork of it at anytime just like XFree86 to X.org did. Heck, look at slashdot. Its open source, anybody can go to http://slashcode.com/ [slashcode.com] and put up a slashdot "killer" at any time, but does it happen? No. Why? Because slashdot is more than slashcode, its people like me and you that make slashdot work. We openly bash on slashdot all the time and the editors don't delete the posts, they frequently get modded up and the discussion diverges from there.
The cathedral way of doing things is certainly a way of doing things, but its not the only way. A big topic that comes here multiple times a week is the failing cathedral way of music distribution and the RIAA. The bazaar method of music distribution is scary for them, and they go to the bigger cathedral, the government and court rooms to maintain their cathedral existence.
I really think this newer bazaar way of doing things is pretty cool. Look at Wikipedia, slashdot, GNU, Linux, etc. All of these things are very successful, but there is no real boundary or ownership of any of these things. They are free. And the bizarre thing about it is that people make money off of it.
Another thing that is cool about Linux and OSS is that the "cathedrals" are participating in the bazaar as well. Big brand name companies like Apple, IBM, SGI, HP, etc are embracing and contributing and benefitting from this stuff.
Re:Leader? (Score:3, Interesting)
My xbox runs xbmc and linux to give me things m$ didn't. My phone runs linux to give me things wm5 didn't. My laptop runs linux to give me things that xp didn't. My linksys wrt54g openwrt gives me many more things linksys didn't. I'm planning on buying a roomba, and if I feel the need a gumstix to exploit its resources.
Other than hardware - I've submitted many OSS patches, and I've modified stuff for myself and companies I work for to get things to work the way I want them to.
I doubt this story is much different for most linux advocates on