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Linus Moves To OSDL, Will Work On Kernel Full-Time
worldwideweber writes "With the announcement of the release of the 2.5.72 version of the Linux kernel came the news that Linus Torvalds will be leaving Transmeta for OSDL to work on the linux kernel full-time. The email calls this a leave of absence for about one year." Update: 06/17 17:19 GMT by T : As many readers have pointed out, the length of Linus' leave is not actually specified in this email.
Will this mean we get kernel releases daily? Like in the old times? Will we have 3.0.0 this xmas? I'm soo exited!!!!
My god.
You actually *paid* for the privelidge of being the idiot who FPs an article?
You really need to get out more (says the person who's been visiting every five minutes to see this story come out of the future).
From: Linus Torvalds
/how/ freely Transmeta has let me do Linux work. My email address will
;) press-release about this tomorrow morning, but I just
To: Kernel Mailing List
Subject: Linux v2.5.72 and a move to OSDL
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 21:35:09 -0700 (PDT)
Ok, I waited too long for 2.5.71, so here's a more timely 2.5.72
release.
It's extra timely largely because the hash list poisoning found some
problems in the RPC code, making NFS break. Trond found and fixed the
breakage, so 2.5.72 should work fine in an NFS environment too. Let's
see if the list poisoning shows any other dodgy list users. Knock wood.
Also, Arnaldo has cleaned up a lot of the networking code to use the
generic hash lists, instead of the old ad-hoc net-specific list walking
code. That code has been tested pretty well, but please holler if you
see something.
Changelog for other details appended.
The other big news - well, for me personally, anyway - is that I've
decided to take a leave-of-absense after 6+ years at Transmeta to
actually work full-time on the kernel.
Transmeta has always been very good at letting me spend even an
inordinate amount of time on Linux, but as a result I've been feeling a
little guilty at just how little "real work" I got done lately. To fix
that, I'll instead be working at OSDL, finally actually doing Linux as
my main job.
[ I do not expect a huge amount of change as a result, testament to just
change to "torvalds@osdl.org" effective July 1st, but everybody is
trying to make the transfer as smooth as possible, so we'll make sure
that there will be sufficient address overlap etc to not cause any
problems ]
OSDL and Transmeta will have a joint official (read: "boring". You
should have seen the bio - that didn't make it - that I suggested for
myself for it
wanted to say thanks to Transmeta. It has been a special place to work
for, and hello to OSDL that I hope will be the same.
Snif. I'm actually all teary-eyed.
Linus
- tom -
Has he got his clearance certificate from SCO?
Have the Chinese agreed to 'release' him from Transmeta?
(this last one hurts a bit)...
while extolling the Linux kernel, we used to say:
Hey, MS spends $5bn in R&D for a lousy OS. A single chappie named Linus maintains the entire Linux kernel in his spare time! Can't say that any more...
Anyways, all the best!
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Trying not to be overly cynical here is a bit difficult. When Transmeta needed publicity they hired Linus which gave them un-rivaled, and often uncritical, coverage in the US which certainly will have helped in fund-raising. The initial visions and hype have not lived up to their expectations, and especially in the low power end of the market where ARM processors continue to dominate.
Now that Transmeta are trying to move into a more corporate sphere there is less demand for a posterboy like Linus.
Its great that Linus is dedicated to the Linux kernel full time, but how much of this is leaving through dedication (for a year) and how much is a result of disappointment at Transmeta not living up to its hype.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
...as he is just about to hand over maintenance of 2.5/2.6 to Andrew Morton. So maybe he actually hopes to do some hacking again, instead of just integrating other peoples' work. Cool!
OSDN, The parent of Slashdot, has filed a lawsuit against Linus today for cut-and-pasting the first three letters of OSDN.
CmdrTaco was quoted and saying "Linus and this Shift-Insert stuff is getting WAY out of control".
Linus was unavailable to paste in a reply.
1. Work on open source projects .com startup; startup tanks
2. No profit
3. Get jealous; go to
4. No profit
5. Return to open source projects
6. No profit
i guess that Linus was too expensive for Transmeta. I don't doubt, that he's worth all the money he earns, but Transeta employs him mostly for PR reasons (that's why they left him so much freedom). But you have to have some sales to support PR. I already wondered for some time, if it pays off for Transmeta financially.
But Linus is so popular, i don't think he will ever encounter serious employment problems.
For my part, i thank Transmeta for employing Linus. As i don't own any shares, i had the profit from Linus' work without any cost.
Bye, Martin
His itinerary includes a brief stop-over in Utah, during which time he will hunt down Darl McBride and maul his body beyond recognition. His court defense will be temporary sanity and David Boies will merrily defend him to acquittal.
Can I bum a sig? I left mine at the office.
There's a leak in the Linus kernel, someone please post a patch.
Linus Torvalds has very recently stated that spam filtering -- right in the kernel -- is now a slated feature for Linux 2.6.
My journal has hot
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
Now, let's not all sell our Transmetta stock at the same time...
Kudos to Transmeta for hiring Linus in the first place ( even if they did transport him to the USA in reach of overlitigious bastards such as The SCO Group ) and supporting his work on Linux for so many years.
Is this related to Transmeta wanting to distance themselves from Linux until the SCO bull$hit is resolved? Hopefully it will be quick, but I can't help but wonder what kind of ace SCO is holding in reserve. Even if they don't really have an ace, businesses seem to be preparing themselves for the possibility that SCO may win a partial victory.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
A year's leave also just happens to give him time where he could be an expert witness or consultant in certain legal matters.
Excuse my ignorance but what is List Poisoning?
I feel like I should know this but I don't.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
There's something about these two changes I find amusing. I admit I have no idea what they mean, which is probably why:
Daniel Ritz:
o [PCMCIA] fix yenta unload oops
David S. Miller:
o [TCP]: Use proper time_*() comparisons on jiffies
OSDL is dedicated to enabling Linux and Linux-based applications for data center and carrier-class deployment. We provide the crucial hardware for testing and development at this level, giving open source developers around the world the resources needed to bring Linux further into telecommunications and the enterprise. We are an independently governed, non-profit organization supported by 21 industry leaders.
Sounds cool
That letter is awesome. It's great to have a real, honest, genuine human-being to rally behind.
This is the greatest things about open-source: the people. People who are willing to donate so much time and effort to the benefit of everyone on earth as opposed to people who want to screw over the world so they can make themselves rich.
We're much better off than those cheering on phony, cut-throat business men who run and jump around a stage like monkies to the tune of Gloria Estefan.
Why bother.
I submitted this a few hours ago (always a bridesmaid, *snif*), along with two links not in the story above. One was to the NY Times story about it. The other was to this story which just came out at Wired . . .a brief interview with Linus about his efforts to stand apart from political issues surrounding Open Source, which refers to the
discussion here on Slashdot
about his opinions on incorporating DRM into the Linux kernel (among other things).
From the nytimes article, about OSDL:
The organization was created with an investment of $20 million from I.B.M., Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Computer Associates, NEC and Fujitsu.
What no SCO?
I'll do it for cheesy poofs.
Nice troll. I'll answer anyway.
1) Who knows? XFree86 draws my windows just fine. 3d is plenty fast using Nvidia drivers. 90% of desktops users won't care what's going on "under the hood".
2) See 1. Prolly does need a clean up, but I'd say the same about Windows registry. LFS gives good reasons for locations, and there's also good reasons to retain Unix-ness.
3) Bollocks. Development is astronomically fast.
4) Usability is being addressed by both KDE and Gnome. Again, how much maintaining does the average user actually do? As far as software management goes, if RedCarpet or Up2Date is too hard, I honestly don't know how much easier it would need to be.
Finally the SCO suit is showing some effect! Linux's leader is abdicating and fleeing the scene. Exactly as the nazis left Germany and took up hiding in South America.
I guess that this means we can all get back to conducting serious business based on SCO Unix - the bread and butter of many a development company.
(In 20 years time we'll probably see Torvalds daughter marrying the Swedish king!)
While we are posting stories about people changing jobs...
Just last week I started a new job after a long and tedious four and a half year tenure at my former job. In this new job I'll finally get to work on things other than fighting fires. I'm very excited. Just thought everyone would like to know.
--
"What do you want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? Cause I'm married."
He should just sue SCO and live off the money... relaxing in a fabulous villa, doing a bit of kernel coding every now and then ;-)
That being said, linux will not go mainstream until my mother can use it. That won't happen until several things are resolved.
1) printer setup utilities SUCK
2) sound card setup utilities SUCK
3) Most other setup utilities suck (too a lesser degree) also.
The apps are really improving, but sysadmin for the typical home user requires way more time and thought than they are willing to put into it.
If my mom buys a new printer for her Windows machine, she plugs it in and uses it. If she was using linux, she would end up returning the printer.
So let's see, we could :
1) Scrap KDE and Gnome, put *all* the code into XFree itself, that way everyone is stuck with whatever "paradigms" you think up
2) Stick every single configuration file into one GIANT configuration file, which would be so big and monsterous that it would require a binary format, along with a special program to edit it and a bunch of API calls to modify it
3) Make 7-10 different versions of the OS, all built on essentially the same thing, but each requiring their own set of patches and updates
4) Launch a huge marketing campaign to brainwash people into thinking your product delivers a great "experience"
Well then you'd just have Windows.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
...posted on Slashdot, you ARE the alpha geek.
That is all.
-- Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Two words: command line. Until you can press a button in a pretty window it's not friendly enough for the masses.
I was reading wired and they were talking about how after people leave their jobs after being interviewed in Wired. Barry Diller left Vivendi right after he was interviewed, and some other that I can remember because I left the issue at home. This was in the letters to the editor section for anyone that has a copy. One of the editors guessed that since Linus was getting interviewed in this months article, he was going to leave. He said something to the point of " anyone looking for a decent Unix programmer" in reference to Linus. Somebody should have the damn article.
Here's the press release alluded to in Linus' email. Still no mention of his leave being limited to one year.
Linux Creator Linus Torvalds Joins OSDL
First OSDL Fellow Will Devote Himself Exclusively to Linux Development
BEAVERTON, OR, and SANTA CLARA, CA, June 17, 2003 â" OSDL, a non-profit, global consortium of leading technology companies dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux, and Transmeta Corporation (Nasdaq: TMTA), the leader in efficient computing, today announced that Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, will join OSDL as the first OSDL Fellow.
As an OSDL fellow, Linus will work exclusively on leading the development of Linux, the open source software that he created in 1991 as a university student in Finland. Torvalds will dedicate himself now full-time to guiding a distributed team of thousands of Linux developers around the world. At OSDL, he will have hands-on access to its state-of-the-art computing resources and test facility. He will also help set priorities and direction for the Lab's different industry initiatives.
"It feels a bit strange to finally officially work on what I've been doing for the last twelve years, but with the upcoming 2.6.x release it makes sense to be able to concentrate fully on Linux," Torvalds said. "OSDL is the perfect setting for vendor-independent and neutral Linux development."
Founded in 2000, OSDL has data centers in Portland, Oregon and Yokohama, Japan used by Linux developers around the world. With investment backing from Computer Associates, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC and others, the lab sponsors key industry projects, including industry initiatives to enhance Linux for use in corporate data centers (Data Center Linux) and in telecommunications networks (Carrier Grade Linux). OSDL is increasingly being recognized as the center-of-gravity for the Linux industry: an important and independent central body that invests in the growth and innovation of Linux for the benefit of customers.
"OSDL is a leading Linux-industry advocate with the single-minded focus of accelerating its use throughout the enterprise," said Stuart Cohen, OSDL CEO. "Linus' decision to join us is a confirmation of the importance of our mission. OSDL is the only organization where Linux developers, customers and vendors can all participate as equals. The addition of Linus' perspective and guidance to the Lab will enhance our value to all three of these groups."
Linux is the fastest-growing operating system in the world. Revenue for Linux-based servers grew 62% in 2002, while overall sales of servers dropped 8%, according to Gartner Dataquest, a market research company. By 2007, Gartner predicts that Linux may grab 15% of the worldwide market.
"Linus Torvalds adds tremendous credibility to OSDL's efforts to drive the evolution of Linux forward into enterprise computing and carrier environments," said George Weiss, vice president and research director for the research firm Gartner. "The computing market is still questioning how far and how fast Linux can go as an enterprise-ready platform. With Linus at OSDL, many will be looking for leadership from the lab for answers to those questions."
Torvalds will join OSDL on leave from Transmeta Corporation, where he is currently a Transmeta Fellow. Transmeta is an OSDL member and worked with OSDL on the transition. "Linus has made substantial technological contributions as a member of our development team here at Transmeta," said Matthew R. Perry, president and CEO, Transmeta Corporation. "Transmeta appreciates and fully supports Linus' strong interest in devoting his attention and energy to certain emerging industry-wide Open Source initiatives at OSDL."
About OSDL
Founded in 2000, OSDL is dedicated to accelerating the growth and adoption of Linux in the enterprise. Supported by a global consortium of IT industry leaders, OSDL provides state-of the-art computi
Newswire:
Cmdr Taco is taking an extended four-year leave of absence from Slashdot and will be going to the University of Michigan to learn Journalism. He'll also be taking courses in reality, spelling, housekeeping, grammar, shopping, ethics, marital skills and parenting, just in case he ever grows up, in which case he'll need minimal competency in all of these areas of human interaction.
"Basically he didnt quit outright, I guess he wants to keep his options open."
Exactly, i'd bet it probably has something to do with his stock options. Usually you have to exercise your options 30 days after leaving a company, but if technically he hasn't left, then he could hang on to his stock options just in case they are ever worth something again.
Since I'm ignorant enough not to know what OSDL stands for, and lazy enough that I don't feel like searching for it, I'm just going to make something up. Here are my top 5 so far:
1. Open Source Developer Land
2. Oprah's Singular Dance Legends
3. Oops, Stallman Dissed Linus
4. O'Reilly Still Dignifies Linux
5. Official Simpsons Disco Library
(I suspect I'm on to something with #2...)
And the number of Linux purposed Transmeta systems out there ? Or Server based systems ? Transmeta is aiming at the notebook market where Linux is pretty much unheard of, then at the lower-scale where again the majority of systems are not Linux.
I have no doubt the guy is brilliant, but isn't it a bit strange given the markets Transmeta aimed at that they wanted lots of Linux development.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
How many of us can honestly say that we're doing what we love to do? And not just "working at an appropriately geek/tech job" either. I mean, this guy started a project as a hobby, people found value in it, and now he gets a salary to maintain it as he sees fit. When you look at history, even people like Michaelangelo who got to do what they liked doing, and got paid to do it, still had to work on someone else's project. "Michaelangelo, paint this ceiling, something in a biblical motif." Even top athletes get told who to play and when. Not many people have, or have ever had, as sweet a deal as Linus. I have several projects, as well as other non-geeky hobbies, that I scarcely have time for. I wish I could get paid to work on them. Heck, I'd settle for simply having more time for them without pay.
Constitutionally Correct
Yes, OSDL did have Caldera/SCO money. Caldera joined OSDL early on, and later let their membership expire sometime after the name change to SCO. So SCO has funded Linux kernel development projects through OSDL. Larry
> There's not a single chance for SCO to sue them.
Not having a good case hasn't stopped them before...
SCO could alledge that:
* Transmeta hired Linus primarily to do work on the kernel for them (i.e. have a Linux kernel ready to go when their chip came out, both so linux would run and in case Microsoftware didn't.)
* While working for them he, as part of his work, distributed (thus copying) the allegedly-SCO's IP that was allegedly ported into Linux by IBM or others, or that he ported some in himself.
So therefore Transmeta was involved in the IP "theft", yadda yadda...
Or any of a number of variations on the theme.
But I doubt that has anything to do with Linus leaving Transmeta. (If nothing else, SCO could still sue them after he's gone.)
I imagine that, now that Transmeta's first chips are out, most of the Transmeta-specific kernel work is done. So if Linus stays he's likely to get sucked into other software that's less kernel-specific, losing his kernel focus to the detriment of Linux. On the other hand, he can focus on the kernel full-time at his new site, to the benefit of Liunx, Transmeta, Linus' peace of mind, and a whole lot more.
Linus sounds like he feels uncomfortable being paid by Transmeta for kernel work - even it really IS a big help to Transmeta for the kernel to continue to prosper. Going to somewhere where this is no longer an issue in HIS mind (regardless of whether it's an issue for his management) is good all around.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way