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CNN Sits Down With Linus Torvalds

just_another_sean writes "Calling him 'reclusive' and the 'leader of the Open Source Revolution' CNN has an interview with Linus Torvalds. From the article: "I actually only work with a few handfuls so I tend to directly interact with maybe 10 - 20 people and they in turn interact with other people. So depending on how you count, if you count just the core people, 20 -50 people. If you count everybody who's involved; five thousand people -- and you can really put the number anywhere in between... Almost, pretty much all, real work is done over e-mail so it doesn't matter where people are."

13 of 264 comments (clear)

  1. If being reclusive means by Trigun · · Score: 5, Funny

    Travelling all over the world, I wish I was a hermit!

  2. Leader? by kanzels · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He is just working on Linux kernel, there are thousands of other open source projects. I wouldn't call him OSS leader :)

    --
    Pixel image editor - http://www.kanzelsberger.com
    1. Re:Leader? by hackstraw · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I wouldn't call him OSS leader :)

      I would. I mean its pretty much between RMS and Linus, and I would give it to Linus.

      Sure GNU did come first and Linux would be impotent without it, but Linus has something Stallman does not. Brand name recognition and a damn good OS that powers a bunch of the internet, routers, printers, digital picture frames, you name it.

      Also, Linus is more suit and general public friendly than RMS will ever be.

      If its not Linus or Stallman, who is the OSS leader or is there no leader but rather just a bizarre style of underground thing?

    2. Re:Leader? by muszek · · Score: 5, Funny

      you're wrong, it's Frozen Bubble

  3. Vulnerability by ch-chuck · · Score: 5, Funny

    All it takes to throw the entire open source revolution into chaos and disarray is one well aimed chair-throw.

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  4. The Beating Drums by Quirk · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The tribes that talk through the likes of CNN count anyone as reclusive who won't go down on an ego dildo (microphone) and help CNN sell advertising space.

    The maddening crowd seems to be too intellectually limited to understand that their need for heroes, saints and sinners is about as interesting as reading a popularization of a first year anthropology text book.

    Not to mention the hours lost mugging for CNN that could have been spent productively.

    just my loose change

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  5. Has /. ever done an interview with Linus? by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems like he would be a perfect candidate

  6. Did he just compare Microsoft to witchcraft? by RocketRay · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sounds like it to me:

    To where science took this whole notion of developing ideas in the open and improving on other peoples' ideas and making it into what science is today, and the incredible advances that we have had. And I compare that to witchcraft and alchemy, where openness was something you didn't do.

    Zing!

  7. Best Quote by CrayzyJ · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Normally I am not recognized, people don't throw their panties at me."

    Nice to know he thinks like the rest of us guys.

    --
    Holy s-, it's Jesus!
  8. reclusive by mdmarkus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    reclusive (adj): Not having a publicist lobbying to get onto CNN.

  9. Are you trying to be funny? by mangu · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Apple seems to be slowly and surely becoming the home base for open source and cutting edge development and is moving out to dominate the "gadgets" market.


    If by "dominate the gadgets market" you mean selling lots of iPods, maybe you are right. But "home base for open source"? The Apple operating system isn't open source, for chrissake! There's no intersection between Linux and Apple, Linux is an open source operating system, Apple is a system which has some open source elements, but the OS isn't one of them. It used to be but, thanks to the BSD license, that detail has been fixed.


    As for this "cutting edge development", could you be so kind and point us to any big OSS project whose development began in Apple and was later adopted by others? I mean, like Konqueror was the basis for Safari, only the other way round?


    Oh, sorry, I forgot, don't feed the trolls, or maybe that big "whooosh" was the joke going over my head?

  10. It's good to see that he didn't bite by Milton+Waddams · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seemed that CNN were trying to ask very pointed questions, trying to make Linus out to be some warrior against Microsoft. I like this part:


    KLS: Another reason, because it's an alternative to Microsoft?

    LT: Well that is, I think, played up more than it necessarily needs to be. Because there is a very vocal side to this which is the whole anti Microsoft thing. I think it makes a better story than is necessarily true in real life.


    For a techie guy who doesn't have reams of PR guys behind him and telling him what he should say, he handled the press pretty well.

    I thought CNN were supposed to be respectable, like the US version of the BBC or something? It seemed like they were just looking for some big scoop with regards to people being Anti-Microsoft rather than trying to have an interesting interview with a major contributor to an alternative OS.

  11. Re:The real question is... by smidget2k4 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Three degrees. Linus Torvalds was in The Code (2001) with Miguel de Icaza. Miguel de Icaza was in Antitrust (2001) with Tim Robbins. Tim Robbins (I) was in Mystic River (2003) with Kevin Bacon.