Torvalds Tells All

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Posted by michael on Wednesday October 10, 2001 @05:17AM from the road-ahead dept.

Eugenia writes: "Linus Torvalds gives an interesting interview to OSNews.com, talking about everything people are wondering about his personal opinions on several matters: on the GNU/Linux naming, the GUIs currently offered for Linux, the kernel 2.6, his plans for hot-plugged devices & drivers, Microsoft, FreeBSD and the future in general."

18 of 525 comments (clear)

FreeBSD by dimer0 · 2001-10-10 05:23 · Score: 3, Funny

Well, sir, you don't follow FreeBSD 5, but there's nothing technically interesting in it?

Comon.
Switched at birth by Anonymous Coward · 2001-10-10 05:25 · Score: 1, Funny

Is it me or does Linus look a lot like Robert X. Cringely?
1. Re:Switched at birth by Anonymous Coward · 2001-10-10 05:31 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Yeah, I thought Linus was one of those scrawny hacker types. He rich enough to have a makeup artist now?
Is Linus a Randian? by Dolly_Llama · 2001-10-10 05:27 · Score: 4, Funny

What is your opinion on Hailstorm, .Net and the rest of the technologies Microsoft is preparing to roll out in the years to come? Can these releases have an impact on Linux and if yes, in what way?

Linus Torvalds: See my answer about not caring what the competition does, but doing my own thing as well as I can..

Ellsworth Toohey: "Why don't you tell me what you think of me?......."
Howard Roark: "But I don't think of you."

--
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
RMS name by Asikaa · 2001-10-10 05:28 · Score: 5, Funny

"I don't mind what rms calls the system. I don't think his arguments for the naming are very valid, but hey, at the same time I really couldn't care less."
Meanwhile, in an RMS office somewhere:
"Okay, so Windows 2001 it is then."

--
Asikaa
Come in, twenty-seventy-seventy, your time is up.
1. Re:RMS name by Enry · 2001-10-10 05:32 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Now that's just not fair....
  
  You mean GNU/Windows 2001.
2. Re:RMS name by TheRain · 2001-10-10 06:20 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  NO WAIT! wait wait wait... hah it should've been
  GNU/Windows 2001! HAHAHA! oh gosh I'm hilariouse.
  
  --
  Please help! I'm stuck inside my virtual reality headset!
Naming by Red+Moose · 2001-10-10 05:31 · Score: 2, Funny

The OS is called "GNU/Stallman/Linux" you morons. This GNU/Linux name doesn't inform the user properly of what they are using.
Windows is soon to be renamed Closed-Source/Gates/Windows which is far more informative.

--
Acting stupid isn't much fun when there's someone around who knows better
Tells All? by sharkey · 2001-10-10 05:33 · Score: 5, Funny

I get a picture of Linus taking his cue from Chunk, and telling everything.

"And then, when I was in 4th grade, I pushed my sister down the stairs and blamed it on the dog.

But this, this was the worst. I mixed up a batch of fake puke, and snuck it into the movies. I went up into the balcony...."

Now that would be a great interview.

--

--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
It's so sad... by fm6 · 2001-10-10 05:34 · Score: 5, Funny

The world is full of noisy, shameless self-promoters who want the whole world to take notice of what they do. Most of them, of course, are totally frustrated.
Then along comes a guy who doesn't care if anybody adopts his pet project -- which is now the used by a huge number of people all across the planet, and the basis of billions of dollars in development and sales efforts. Hardly fair, is it? ;)
Re:Linus sounds awfully tired by Dolly_Llama · 2001-10-10 05:41 · Score: 5, Funny

I liked your post, but..
Everyone wants an oracle to tell us the future
Now that would be horrible, but any future from oracle would most certainly involve Larry being much richer, and me being much poorer.(/rtongueincheek)

--
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
Re:Ouch! by Anonymous Coward · 2001-10-10 05:43 · Score: 2, Funny

Indeed, it goes further than that. By using 'rms' instead of Richard M. Stallman, Linus has effectively said that he considers one of the 'big-names' to be too big. Taking this reasoning to it's logical conclusion, by not using capital letters, he has reduced the name even more. He has GNUeutered Stallman.

By doing this, Linus demonstrates that he understands the *nix philosophy better than Stallman. Small, easy to type names are better than longer forms.
Re:Torvalds isn't a philosopher by On+Lawn · 2001-10-10 06:53 · Score: 3, Funny

You said it, Stallman gives things for people to argue about. Linus just gets things done.
Oracle answer by [JP] · 2001-10-10 07:12 · Score: 2, Funny

There is no spoon.
You mean... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-10-10 07:23 · Score: 1, Funny

... He wasn't talking about the tiger?
Does Linus even like to give interviews? by Green+Light · 2001-10-10 07:37 · Score: 1, Funny

Not very chatty, is he?

Doesn't know, doesn't care.

Reminds me of the old joke "What is the difference between ignorance and apathy?".

--
"Send an Instant Karma to me" - Yes
Gates and Torvalds by SilentChris · 2001-10-10 08:08 · Score: 3, Funny

"5. What do you think of the FreeBSD 5 kernel and WindowsXP's new features from a clearly technical point of view?

Linus Torvalds: I don't actually follow other operating systems much. I don't compete - I just worry about making Linux better than itself, not others. And quite frankly, I don't see anythign very interesting on a technical level in either."
Doesn't Torvalds sound amazingly like Gates in this line?
"I don't care so much about OS's other than Windows, I just want to make Windows the most innovative product it can be."
Re:Torvalds isn't a philosopher by Dwonis · 2001-10-10 14:32 · Score: 4, Funny

You're surprised that Linus doesn't care about something??