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Torvalds the "5th Most-Powerful Man in Tech"

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the where-is-shampoo dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to silicon.com, Linus Torvalds is the fifth most influential man in technology. The bio they have written for him isn't the most flattering to the open source community though. I quote: "If it wasn't for the presence of Lara Croft and Xena Warrior Princess, techies around the world would have posters of Torvalds on their walls." It goes on to say: "In truth Torvalds best work is in the past"... which seems to negate their own argument for having him in there. Also in the Top 5 is Steve Jobs (1) who comes out on top of Bill Gates (2). As an interesting aside, the writer of the Sobig virus even makes it in at Number 42..."

8 of 594 comments (clear)

  1. Agenda setting by BWJones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The ranking is the top Agenda setters, not the most powerful folks in tech as the poster states. For this reason I can easily see S. Jobs and Gates towards the top. This is slightly different than influence and worlds different that "Most Powerful".

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  2. Torvalds might only be fifth... by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... but you can reasonably expect to sit down and have a beer with him after work if you're in the right city. Can you say the same about numbers one through four?

    It's nice having people in the upper-levels of Linux kernel development who actually read and post to mailing lists...

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    1. Re:Torvalds might only be fifth... by Mr_Silver · · Score: 5, Insightful
      It's nice having people in the upper-levels of Linux kernel development who actually read and post to mailing lists...

      If Bill G and Steve J actually did any development any more then you could make this a valid comparison.

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  3. Influential or powerful? by djeaux · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Sometimes the two aren't the same, are they?

    Bill Gates is powerful, because he's so insanely wealthy. He then can influence all sorts of people with his power.

    Linus Torvalds may be influential in tech circles, but whether that translates into any normal interpretation of "power" is another question.

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  4. Good idea by the_consumer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Stroking the ego of a virus writer, way to go. I'm sure that'll entice her to stop.

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    "If you're thinking what I'm thinking, you're right." -
  5. Well... yeah! by RyanFenton · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course Linus wouldn't be the most "powerful" - he lets others make up their own damn minds. He doesn't own any companies, and he lets others use his ideas with only the agreement to give credit where credit is due, and use derrivative ideas in just the same way. The power is not in the man, but in the ideas. This "ranking" shouldn't be counted as an insult to open source in any way - powerful men are not a particularly valid way to rank ideas.

    Ryan Fenton

  6. No Richard M. Stallman? by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    His agenda seem quite influential, much of Linux' success is due to his agenda (through the GPL and software).

    He may not be at the top, but he should be on the list. And above the Sobig author...

  7. no RMS? by nuggz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What about RMS, he has done a lot of work for Free Software.
    If Linus gets to #5 being the embodiment of Open Source, how can they neglect GNU ?