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Linus Makes Business Week's Best Managers List
andhar writes "Linus Torvalds has made Business Week Magazine's 2004 list of Best Managers, where he finds himself in the company of luminaries such as Hector Ruiz (AMD), John Henry (Boston Red Sox) and Steven Spielberg (Dreamworks SKG).
The article lauds the influence of Linux on the server market and drops the names of such heavyweights as IBM, Dell, HP and Intel as Linux supporters.
Linus is quoted, calling all you kernel coders a herd of cats."
"Linus ate at McDonalds!" "Linus uses 2 ply toilet paper!" etc etc. Why not make a section devoted strictly to Linus (linus.slashdot.org) for the fawning and drooling and leave the Linux section to all things about Linux proper? That and some other minor changes would allow the readership to disable stories about what movie Linus watched over the weekend and other fluff if they wanted.
Unless, of course, you're all too busy designing more ugly colour schemes.
This is a great article. I read it most of it last night. Goes through good managers, WHY they are good, how they turned around the company(Xerox as an example) and talks about bad managers and WHY they are bad, mistakes they've made, etc.
This article should be read over and over again by the countries PHB. But I know they won't listen.
Check out the pic of Linus, I think he's in a CORNfield or something LOL
Right up there with "Most Ethical Lawyer."
yes! a shift in paragdim or something like that.
ah!
I think that managing a bunch of know-it-alls is a lot harder than managing people who are just there for a paycheck.
Might as well made the list. He's adorned by many people and scored by everybody else.
He's worked hard with a score of other people (who did not make the list) to make a nice operating system for anybody to use and modify. Before 2.4, it seemed many companies like Microsoft poo poohed the idea of how an open source operating system was going to work, and now that it has, they feel a little threatened. With the success of his kernel, I give him proper kudos.
Oh, it is kind of funny. I do not see Darl McBride on the list. Just kind of interesting.
Some call me Howie Feltersnatch
I can't believe Steve Jobs didn't win best manager of the year--
...they must be holding out for best manager of the century.
Try cat juggling instead!
Like SCO, Infinium Labs, are doing...
Kitty, kitty....
A manager of a group that reads slashdot all day and still get things done.
That is impressive.
I guess that's the best title for what he does, but his position doesn't really fit the "manager" role to a T..
He's not anyones boss, he can't "fire" a kernel hacker, or direct them, he can just decide to accept or not accept patches.
That lack of "direction" is somewhat of a problem, noone knows where linux is headed. It seems to be veering away from the desktop to the server room, and locked down incarnations like TiVo.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Better than dirty dogs. (My Chows are cringing right now!)
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
There are so many bad managers in the Bush whitehouse it must have been hard to find the worst.
Linus' picture actually made the cover of the magazine (along with 4 others)! Click on the "photo essays" graphic at the top of the article and then look at the magazine cover on the right hand side. The second person from the right looks like Linus to me. Awesome. I wonder who the other people are on the cover - I can't quite make them out.
Many people that have not gone to school have done good things...but if one sought a job sighting management skills, they are quickly turned down for lack of the so called degrees!
This is despite the clear evidence that the so called educated managers have done more havoc than good. Just look at the companies that have folded up!
I think that this issue of "Must have an MBA, LLB etc, etc.." was created purely for financial purposes by educational institutions. All people doing crap at their jobs here are very educauted. One wonders what their education helps anyway.
Disclaimer: I run a fairly successful finacial business on the internet, but have zero training in this. I use my common sense.
Note that Richard Branson (of the Virgin Group), does not have the educational papers that one would think he has. But he is very successful to the extent that he keeps British Airways managers on their toes.
I think the kernal should look this way! But first I'll sleep on it.
Prrrrr......
Thank you, Saddam. It is good to know how you and the other terrorists think about things.
Where is Steve Balmer?
Linus is quoted, calling all you kernel coders a herd of cats.
From the article
Torvalds has quipped that his job is a lot like "herding cats."
"Herding cats" is meant to be an oxymoron. Cats operate in small, tight-knit prides and not large herds; they are strong-willed and typically follow their own program. Linus was just trying to convey the difficulty of managing a large group of programmers who all have their own, unique reasons for doing what they do. As is demonstrated time and time again here at /., most nerds have trouble seeing the other side of an argument (read: we always think we're right). This brings about the cat metaphor.
For those who don't RTFA, this might be taken out of context as an insult to kernel contributors. Just wanted to clear that up.
RTFA and cite your sources or prepare to get pwnd
Finally! Something I'm in total agreement with Linus about... Linux kernel coders are a bunch of pussies (for the non-English speakers in the group, that's a derogatory reference).
Mod parent up, and it's not off-topic. "Hector the sector wrecker" did very bad things when at Motorola semi. Others will be able to fill in the details better than I can.
Frank Dunn Nortel
I'm not sure why the CEO of SCO is not in that list, since SCO's earnings on most products are diminishing.Graig Conway Peoplesoft
Sanjay Kumar Computer Associates International
#include "a_life.h"
The iPod is flying high right now, but what will it be like in 1 year with larger capacity, easier-to-use music players for less than half the cost out there? Machines not hogtied to the obscure non-standard AAC format?
The first P for me is Principles.
The second is Perspective.
The third one is Passion.
The fourth one is Perseverance.
The fifth -- and these are not necessarily grammatically correct, it's just how I remember them -- is Performance.
The last and probably most important one is People.
And here I thought the six P's of success were Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
Saying Android is a family of phones is akin to saying Linux is a family of PCs.
Linus: 2004 Business Week list of best managers.
RMS: "involuntarily self-promoted into management"(!!!)
Alan Cox: Left Linux kernel development to get a MBA
He's not anyones boss, he can't "fire" a kernel hacker, or direct them, he can just decide to accept or not accept patches.
But wait... when people are asked to name the managers we like best, we DON'T name administrators (which is the hire/fire abilities you describe and the financial ones implicit in that), we name our LEADERS. Linus made the list because of his leadership skills in accomplishing a task (herding cats, I guess) and the scope of control he must manage there; not for his budgetary or administrative skills.
Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Microsoft.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
There is supposedly a list of Worst Managers in this article, but I don't see my boss anywhere on the list.
Studying for your MBA?
Just curious.
Just ask the ladies!
Where is Steve Balmer?
What government is talking about switching to Open Source?
That's most likely where he'll be.
"What's funny or interesting about that? Were you expecting him to be or something?"
:) Hope that clarifies things for you.
As vocal as he is regarding his alleged ownership to some of the code, and how hard he (and perhaps others) is working to get companies to pay license fees to run an open source operating system. That's a lot of work, and how he did not make it on the list is interesting.
Seriously, I was not expecting him to be on the list.
Some call me Howie Feltersnatch
I think when Linus retires, then they'll HAVE to get an American in to do the job, because of market forces. I know for a fact that because it is said (by certain Redmond backed PR astrotrufers) that Linucks is run by a "foreign national", the influential in government procurement circles are NOT INTERESTED in Linucks. These are major players and major markets Linucks is missing out on.
We need an American, Wall-Street savvy maintainer. He doesn't even need to be a hugely good coder, after all Linus isn't either.
Meine Schwester ist sehr, sehr reizvoll - Nietzsche
Torvalds had a pet Cobra who he used to take for walks while wearing a white tails and tophat. He named the cobra Beverly, and he taught it how to fetch and dial phone. One day the cobra bit the maid, and with tears in his eyes, Brasky...I, uh mean, Torvalds had to shoot the maid.
I can't spell ripburger
If I run a successful company and I don't have formal education training, then anyone can do it?
The likelihood of success depends as much on drive and energy as on prior experience, be it formal or otherwise. Companies in general have recognized that formal education enhances certain skillset, such as the ability to recognize faulty logic.
Majority of startup fail in the first year, involving both skilled layspersons and educated persons. So that so-called clear evidence you cite is pulling numbers out of thin air to back up a rather weak argument.
All things equal, if both types of person go to a banker for credit, that piece of paper hanging on the wall may very well be worth 25 basis points, possibly even the difference between success and failure. That's credibility for you. Is it fair? Nope. But like any startups, you take any advantage you can get.
Disclaimer: I have a degree. Just like insurance, it comes in handy when I least expect it.
looks to me like an arbitrarily-assembled list of newsmakers and "hot" personalities designed to sell issues. it seems nearly impossible to have much real insight on a manager without working in their organization.
I've always said that Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Wal-Mart.. but yeah, same idea. I guess yours is better suited for Slashdot.
...Andrew Tanenbaum, as seen on this page:
;-)
This IS possible. If a group of people wants to do this, that is fine. I think co-ordinating 1000 prima donnas living all over the world will be as easy as herding cats, but there is no legal problem. When a new release is ready, just make a diff listing against 1.5 and post it or make it FTPable. While this will require some work on the part of the users to install it, it isn't that much work. Besides, I have shell scripts to make the diffs and install them. This is what Fred van Kempen was doing. What he did wrong was insist on the right to publish the new version, rather than diffs against the PH baseline. That cuts PH out of the loop, which, not surprisingly, they weren't wild about. If people still want to do this, go ahead.
A bit of an inside joke from Linus, I guess... but now we can say he ripped off more than MINIX from Andy
He's not anyones boss, he can't "fire" a kernel hacker, or direct them, he can just decide to accept or not accept patches.
And how is that power not explicitly hiring or firing? Basically, choosing to accept patches from someone for a while is the same as hiring - just as shutting someone out of the process is exactly like a firing.
Indeed this is hiring/firing at its most pure, for just as the person derives no financial loss from a "firing", so too does Linus have nothing to GAIN by a firing beyond the quality of the product - no bottom line to trim, just quality to oversee. That makes firing (or not firing) far more meaningful than one that is intertwined on both sides with financial implications, and potential lawsuits.
As for direction, the true indicator of being a good manager is that many people are willing to trust whatever vision he has in this regard.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I think that is the question we would all like the answer to.
If you want to take it somewhere else, then fork the kernel and do your own thing.
Most likely you would just take what you are interested in and fork that. And if it is good, then you can see if it will make it into the kernel.
If it is not accepted, then what does it matter because you got your stuff to do what you wanted to do and then you can use it for the rest of your life.
As far as what they are doing with virtual memory or device drivers that load with the kernel, that is beyond what most people want to know about, even people who use Linux.
At least we don't have to worry about malicious lawyers and marketting wonks from a company obsoleting our code by making changes that guarantee incompatability.
At least we can write code and design systems that we can use and we know that they will run for years to come.
How many times did I write things to run on other platforms and as soon as a new version came out, things didn't work anymore?
That is why I started writing in standard C. That is why I decided to learn Linux when I first heard about it ten or so years ago.
You don't need to know where everything is going, but at least with Linux there is a chance, that if you are really interested, you can look at the code.
For example I learned about Virtual Memory system because of a technical problem that we were having with a system that I was working on. I learned that if I wanted to do things the way that I thought was sound real-time software engineering that I could patch a kernel.
With a commercial OS you aren't given that option unless you pay a lot of money. I am not just talking about our friends in Redmond, either, but some folks in Silicon Valley as well.
Honestly, for most users, don't you think that the particulars of an operating system are totally not important? It only becomes important when the thing doesn't work. Or when malicious companies extend the idea of an operating system to include things that, from my point of view, should just be applications, like a browser for example.
Even TCP/IP is an extension of an OS, isn't it?
So if you learn about Linux you learn what it is good for and what it is not so good for without some extra work. But at least with Linux you can do the work and make your stuff perform as you need it to perform. And you can get advice from other programmers and users by just googling for information. And if you are in a bind you can pay people to do work for you.
At least we know where Linux is not going, into the same rat hole that a lot of other OS's went into, good OS's like PSos which was absorbed and then virtually abandoned. This left a lot of people in a lurch.
So those same companies now support Linux, why, so they can have some control over their livlihoods.
Do any of us know what the future holds for real? We all just guess anyway, and hope things work for us. With Linux we can be sure that we don't have our OS vendors competing against us and trying to steal what we do and then saying that it was all theirs in the first place.
Not all computers are for playing games and for watching movies. There are real things that people need to do like run systems and machines, monitor air traffic, control robots, monitor earth quakes and tides, translate ascii into Braille.
the list goes on and on.
You can't guess what it is that you may want to do with an operating system. But should some monopolist company get $190 per every copy of an OS that is sold when they are malicious and trying to harm people who are not part of their mafia?
As far as anything audio or video, isn't that an add-on? Or the GUI, mostly X windows? If you only boot to run-level 3 (on Redhat) then you don't run X,you won't see video without something else running. TiVo is just an application. A server is just an application. If you don't want these then you don't have to have them.
I say that they should not. Computers are too important to be left under the control of litigious monopolists who in their extreame narcisism will tell you that without them you are nothing.
So where Linux is not going, as I can see, is away from that diseased view of business and industry.
Bet you miss the palaces with the petroleum-spouting bidets, eh Sammy?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
You can read 50 FREE (as in beer) pages from my new book that addresses this exact question. It's called "Management Secrets of the New England Patriots."
James
PatriotsBook.com
None of the three you mention are still with their respective companies (hence the term 'fallen').
'Deposition Daryl' gets a pass for this year. At the rate things are going, however, he'll be a shoo-in for next year's list.
Apple has yet to make a single PC, so it is not any sort of PC vendor yet. Let alone a dominant one.
Which is just about the best definition of "leadership" that I think I've come across in a long, long time.
"Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgement." Job 32:9
Martha Stewart
Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco) (also placed in 2002, now facing a possible prison term
I'm certain that a more careful review would find many other less-than-illustrious candidates in previous versions of the top 25.
Slashdot - the place where you can look like a genius by restating the obvious
Linus controls the source tree. They kind of have to go with what he says. If someone raises a stink, because most development is through the Internet, he can just block their e-mail if he wants to. It's not really the same as a real management situation.
As usual in business culture, all credit for the company's work is given to executives. See for example this blurb about AMD CEO Héctor Ruiz: "Nevertheless, the soft-spoken executive has put AMD in the black for the first time since 2000. He's giving larger competitor Intel Corp. (INTC ) fits with AMD's hot-selling Opteron server and Athlon 64 desktop chips, and he has set the agenda for next-generation PC designs." It almost seems that he's the only employee in the company doing any work. No mention of the engineers who, you know, actually designed the products AMD is selling so successfully.
...Sun's Schwartz feels about the award, given that he recently complained about Linus' management style?
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
How you rate Darl depends what you're looking for. OK, Darl would suck to work for if you're a developer, but he has achieved what he set out to do: pump and dump.
Two or three years ago SCO stock holders had toilet paper stock that had no future and no trade value. Over the last year Darl managed to pulp the price to over 18 bucks giving a lot of people an excellent exit option. If you rate him on that, he did rather well.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
I'd just like to remind everyone that a group of cats is a CLOWDER, not a herd.
Just in case you forgot. I will forgive you this time Linus.
He's outstanding in the field of kernels, even. Man I wish I had mod points. Mod parent up!
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