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Linus to speak on "The Origins of Linux" 102

Posted by michael from the on-the-seventh-day-he-rested dept.
Paul J. White writes: "Everyone in Silicon Valley will probably be there when Linus Torvalds lectures on "The Origins of Linux" in Mountain View, California on Wednesday, September 19, 2001 at 6 PM. It's bound to be interesting, so sign up early!"
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Linus to speak on "The Origins of Linux" More

Linus to speak on "The Origins of Linux"

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  • Linus - NASA (Score:1, Informative)

    by tahpot ( 237053 )
    Linus is to speak at NASA Ames Main Auditorium. Perhaps NASA like the whole linux thing?
    • I have some recollection of an article which stated that NASA was planning to deploy Linux on a broad scale. Can't remember where I read the article, only that I did and that it was quite some time ago.

  • Linus' speech: (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by odaiwai ( 31983 )
    "Hello, My names Linus Torvalds and I pronounce Linux as 'a funny thing happened in my bedroom when I was a student'".

    Of course, in the original Swedish:
    "Hellu, My nemes Leenoos Turfelds und I prunuoonce-a Leenoox es 'a foonny theeng heppened in my bedruum vhee I ves a stoodent'". Bork Bork Bork!

    dave "chef"

  • Seen it before (Score:4, Informative)

    by The Ultimate Badass ( 450974 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @07:57AM (#2276930) Homepage
    I actually saw Richard Stallman [fsf.org] give a talk on linux 3 years ago when I was at Georgia tech [slashdot.org]. He discussed how the software project had grown from inauspicious roots as a terminal emulater that Linus had written in C to becoming an OS, based in Andrew Tannenbaum's xenix microkernel.

    Of course, the time was ripe for a project like this, since Andrew wasn't willing to accept any patches to his system, effectively preventing the inclusion of virtual memory, multitasking and a useful filesystem. Stallman made the point that any usable ase for an OS would have been successsful at that point, as long as the developer was willing to accept people's additions. Linus just happened to be in the right place at the right time

    It's funny to think that, had RMS had more foresight, we'd all be using HURD today, and Linus would be an unknown doctoral student/graduate at Helsinki university!

    • Re:Seen it before (Score:3, Insightful)

      by SurfsUp ( 11523 )
      Linus just happened to be in the right place at the right time

      And he happened to be the right person. I've known a lot of technical people, but I never knew one who could lead a project like this as well as Linus. And don't forget his legendary debugging prowess. Oh, and his intuitive sense of where to lead the design. Ah, and the charisma. Err, I almost forgot about his non-partisan stance. Um, how about his ability to use English better than most native speakers? Well, you get the idea. Pretty hard to find another Linus if you ask me.

    • Re:Seen it before (Score:4, Informative)

      by gallir ( 171727 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @09:18AM (#2277134) Homepage
      based in Andrew Tannenbaum's xenix microkernel.

      What? It's Minix, Minix, Minix. Xenix was always proprietary, and is going to die as such.

      OTH, Minix was ergh... shared source? It died anyway...

    • Re:Seen it before (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @09:28AM (#2277253)
      The thing is HURD was announced before Linux so RMS really has little excuse for the current state of the world.


      I suspect that part of the reason he's so bitter about Linux ("call it GNU/Linux!") is because Linux took off like a rocket while HURD wallows in obscurity, never likely to be more than an evolutionary dead end.


      That's not to say HURD is bad, it's just that Linux is and was more popular - partly because Linus is such a strong leader, partly because the kernel is so easy to get into and partly because it actually works dammit.

  • Religion (Score:4, Funny)

    by SilentChris ( 452960 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @07:57AM (#2276931) Homepage
    "Everyone in Silicon Valley will probably be there when Linus Torvalds lectures on "The Origins of Linux" in Mountain View, California on Wednesday, September 19, 2001 at 6 PM. It's bound to be interesting, so sign up early!"

    "from the on-the-seventh-day-he-rested dept."

    *Sigh* Well, it is a religion.

    I miss the days when operating systems ran programs, and weren't political statements.

  • Somebody going to post an mp3 of the talk after, like they did with Jello Biafra in times past?
  • Does anyone know why one must be a US citizen to see this talk? The site doesn't explain, it just points out that you need to bring credentials, such as a driver's license, passport, or green card to prove citizenship. This struck me as odd - is it a funding thing, or is there "discussion of non-exportable cryptosystems", or other such nonsense?

    Oh well. Sorry to those not from the US who might want to see this talk.

    • "Since The Museum collection is temporarily housed within a closed Federal facility, all guests must register in advance to be admitted."

      I've never been there, but it is a Federal airport and I'm sure there are military operations on campus. Seems like a reasonable request.

    • Re:must be a US citizen? Can you read? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by paul7e ( 17646 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @08:08AM (#2276957)
      Please don't be an alarmist unless you've actually looked at the site, the event is open to all.

      However, the Museum is currently housed on an old military facility (that's still owned by the military), so you need picture ID.

      Non-citizens, like it says multiple times on the site, just need to bring their passport or Green Card. But everybody needs to make advance reservations so they can run you through whatever security database they use.

      paul
    • Umm, people with green cards and non-US passports aren't citzens, so I think you're ok.
    • They are obviously afraid that Linus will be hit by a bus, driven on the wrong side of the road by some English guy.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • ..everyone remembers where they were when they first heard about Linux.

    I was working as a Technician at a college in the Engineering department. One of the students starting raving on about this CD he had received containing loads of free (beer) software.. I remember him being a bit of a techy nerd. He had the beard and belly too.

    I thought he was a fool "It'll never fly".

    How I wish I had listened and got in early on. Then I too could be as righteous, patronising and superior as half the Linux community.
  • We do know that Linux came from Xenix...

  • CONSPIRACY THEORY!!! (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Be paranoid for a moment, think about what would happen if all those who attend the talk are arrested for "DCMA" violations ...
    A lot of American Open Source Coders in ONE! swell swoop..

    feel the shiver?..

    Either way they will have your profile from now, what with all the information they are collecting.

    tchuss!

    • They might as well... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Kasreyn ( 233624 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @09:25AM (#2277216) Homepage
      ...the way our laws are going all the professional OSS coders are gonna be fleeing the country anyway (probably to Russia just to make the irony that much more perfect), so why not arrest them before they can escape? After all, every one of them used their brains today, and brains can be used to write code, and code can be used to circumvent encryption schemes, so the brain is a circumvention device. It's basically a crime to be a computer programmer in the US now, so git while the gittin's good is my advice...

      -Kasreyn

  • Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    It is so very local that it is useless to post here.

    I wouldn't have mind a transcript or so when it is over, but this is ridiculous!!!

  • Just For Fun (Score:3, Informative)

    by jeffy124 ( 453342 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @08:20AM (#2276988) Homepage Journal
    Several months ago /. did a book review on Torvald's own book, Just For Fun [slashdot.org]. If for whatever reason you can't go to his talk, I recommend the book. I've read it, and it's good.
  • Not an incredibly interesting article unless you are going to be on the West cost next week.

    However, I did notice the Computer Museum's list of fellows [computerhistory.org], or more specifically, individuals of outstanding merit and accomplishment who have contributed to the development of computing.

    Some familiar faces are there: Vint Cerf, Dennis Ritchie, Woz... I wonder when Linus will grace this list. Who else is missing?!? Tim Berners-Lee? Bill Gates? Bjourne?

  • Why such a limited audience? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @08:23AM (#2276990)
    I'm a student at Waterloo and last year my friends and I organized a great event at our Univeristy that brought an interesting interview of Web inventor, Tim Berners-Lee to our school.

    The cool part is that to get TBL we didn't have to do much. A distance-learning program called the VisionQuest Series [vqfoundation.org] made all the arrangements and all we did was tune in with our browsers and satellite. A question of mine was even chosen and TBL answered it.

    Why don't more people speak through this forum, or something like it? I wonder if those VisionQuest people approached Torvalds? I would love to hear Linus speak but I can't quite make it to California. When is distance-learning finally gonna be popular?!

  • It's all clear... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Spackler ( 223562 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @08:32AM (#2277014) Journal
    When you RSVP, please provide: For US citizens: Full name, affiliation, address, phone number, and notification of US citizenship. (Please bring your picture ID.)

    Bush: How can we get rid of all these commie bastards that the MPAA keeps bugging me about?
    Ashcroft: If we grab their hero, and make them want to come here for him, we can get them all in one place.
    Cheney pulls off Bush mask
    Cheney: They would never fall for that, it's a military base!
    Ashcroft: I got two words for ya, slash dot!
    Linus: Um, Mr. Asscroft, that's one word.
    Ashcroft: Guards, sieze him!
    Cheney: IANAL, but BWahahahahahhaha!
  • This is like going to Church every Christmas to hear the same story. Linus wanted to run Unix on his 386, and used Minix as a base of inspiration. Heard it all before. It ain't that interesting anymore.
  • "The Origin of Linux", doesn't sound right, I'd rather have it
    "The Origin of Linux by means of penguin fanatics".

    Comparing the work of Linus (& crew) to the work of Darwin is perhaps not fair, but their work had both a revolutionary effect and was regarded with contempt from many in power.

    Not too many people these days questioning evolution right?

  • Hrm. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Kasreyn ( 233624 ) on Tuesday September 11, 2001 @09:35AM (#2277331) Homepage
    This site is a bit over-the-top. Would apparently lay the entirety of Linux, the OSS movement, the wheel, and sliced bread at Linus's feet.

    Not a word about the GNU project, RMS, the FSF, the GPL, etc. Just "appease the Linux fans by publically worshipping their poster boy!".

    Heh, I bet RMS is taking an ANGRY sponge bath this morning. =P

    -Kasreyn

  • Linus on PowerPoint (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "do you think he'll have a powerpoint presentation? hehehehehe"

    What do you mean? Two years ago, Linus praised Microsoft for at last producing a useful program. Remember, back then there were no viable free option.

    Linus is more pragmatic than NOT using PowerPoint. However, if there is a viable option today, I believe he may use it.
  • I take it no one would be willing to sneak a wire in or make a call from a cell phone to a weblink. Those unfortunates on the other side of the country may not be able to get there. (me being one of them) Any one who here's about a possible simulcast please drop me a line. Any hope of an official simulcast?
  • Given the world domino towers incident.

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