Gates, Jobs, Torvalds: Who is Most Important?

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Gates, Jobs, Torvalds: Who is Most Important?

Posted by michael on Tuesday September 28, 2004 @05:24AM from the cowboyneal-sadly-not-ranked dept.

Ian Wilson writes "silicon.com has launched its latest Agenda Setters poll which puts together a list of the top 50 people influencing tech. I remember Slashdot carried last year's poll - which was won by Steve Jobs. The full top 50 includes many of the usual suspects. Last year's winner Steve Jobs has slipped down to second place, but perhaps most interesting is the fact that the panel of judges couldn't separate Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates - they are tied in seventh place."

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Scary scary bloke by Space+cowboy · 2004-09-28 05:26 · Score: 5, Informative
[This is possibly more 'yro' than 'it' but the consequences are truly scary for the UK if this man gets his way]

Look at number 5 - David Blunkett. This man makes all other (previously thought to be totalitarian) Home Secretaries in the UK look positively liberal. To recount:
- Wants to introduce compulsory biometric ID cards, despite massive opposition
- Wants to DNA-sample all Europeans and be able to cross-reference them in a db.
- Has enacted legislation forcing all telecoms companies (phone,'net,...) to monitor their users. The aptly named 'RIP justice' bill.
- Wants to monitor ex-criminals with satellite technology. Note the important bit is these people are potential re-offenders!
- Wants to greatly increase the number of cameras around the UK
- God knows what else...
Sure he's an agenda-setter, but Vlad the impaler had an agenda. It didn't make it a good agenda, unless you happened to be Vlad himself...

Simon.
--
Physicists get Hadrons!
1. Re:Scary scary bloke by gowen · 2004-09-28 05:29 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The aptly named 'RIP justice' bill.
  Except thats not what its named. Its called the 'Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act' (previously the RIP Bill). No mention of the word "Justice". Yes, its a horrible piece of legislation, but thats no excuse to pretend its name is different from what it is.
  
  --
  Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
2. Re:Scary scary bloke by Coryoth · 2004-09-28 05:38 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  But look how much crime went down under Vlad!
  
  Well yes. He had a novel solution to poverty as well. He invited all the poor and homeless to a huge feast. Once they were gathered inside and were enjoying their meal, he had all the doors sealed, and burned the place to the ground. After that there were no poor in Wallachia - well, no one would admit to it anyway.
  
  Jedidiah.
  
  --
  Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
3. Re:Scary scary bloke by Coryoth · 2004-09-28 06:34 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  If I were in power, my regime would have impaling. Our current methods of gently killing people don't seem to be much of a deterrent, but I bet all those violent criminals and spammers would tow the line if they knew they were risking impaling.
  
  Let's just be clear on what impaling meant - it wasn't just getting a sharp stick rammed through you. It was getting a (usually blunt) pole inserted in your rectum, and then having the pole stood vertically supporting you so your weight inexorably pushed the pole up through you. Death took days of excruciating agony. Crucifixion is a lark by comparison.
  
  Jedidiah.
  
  --
  Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
4. Re:Scary scary bloke by k98sven · 2004-09-28 09:27 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  But what about non-blood relationships?*
  
  Although I don't think a DNA scan would be necessary.. AFAIK the Basarab family (that of Vlad III) is not extinct.
  
  Although the Basarab name alone is not distinctive. Moldova, which was once part of Wallachia, was named 'Basarabia' (after the family) when it was a Russian province, so there are people originating from there named 'Basarab' too.
  
  (*An ancestor of mine (Mátyus Maróti, 1446-1476) was a brother-in-law to Vlad III.)
The site is slow. Here's the list. by oncee · 2004-09-28 05:35 · Score: 5, Informative
- 1. Ashley Highfield
- 2. Steve Jobs
- 3. Niklas Zennstrom
- 4. Tom Ridge
- 5. David Blunkett
- 6. Richard Granger
- 7. Linus Torvalds
- 7. Bill Gates
- 9. Eric Schmidt
- 10. Marc Benioff
- 11. Sir Peter Gershon
- 12. Marten Mickos
- 13. Meg Whitman
- 14. Sir David Tweedie
- 15. Jonathan Ive
- 16. James Murdoch
- 17. Arun Sarin
- 18. Rupert Murdoch
- 19. Sven Jaschan
- 20. S Ramadorai
- 21. Karen Price
- 22. Lawrence Lessig
- 23. Ian Foster
- 24. Jonathan Schwartz
- 25. Joe McGeehan
- 26. Vivek Paul
- 27. Sam Palmisano
- 28. Eric Abensur
- 29. Martin Varsavsky
- 30. Donald E Knuth
- 31. Len Hynds
- 32. David Levin
- 33. John Connors
- 34. Michael Dell
- 35. Azim Premji
- 36. Ben Verwaayen
- 37. Daniel Egger
- 38. Van Honeycutt
- 39. Jon Rubinstein
- 40. Mark J Cox
- 41. Hu Jintao
- 42. Dan'l Lewin
- 43. Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley
- 44. Richard Stallman
- 45. Ratan Tata
- 46. Michael Powell
- 47. David Sainsbury
- 48. Andy Duncan
- 49. Bernard C Soriano
- 50. Simon Davies
Re:downtime?! by Lazy+T · 2004-09-28 06:05 · Score: 3, Informative

They have only blocked people comming from slashdot. Copy paste link and it should work.
Re:Sounds like Moses's plan by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-28 06:53 · Score: 3, Informative

There's an Old Testament incident in which Moses lures all the believers in a certain religion or sect into a feast at a church, locks the doors, and burns the place down.
Other than the fact that there were no churches back then, nor any temples that Moses would have frequented (never having made it to the promised land), nor a citation in your story, people would be well advised to take this posting with a grain of salt.