Slashdot Mirror
Nexus One First Phone Linus Torvalds "Doesn't Hate"
SpuriousLogic writes "Linus Torvalds, the inventor of the Linux kernel, has an absolute disdain for mobile phones. All of the ones he has purchased in the past, the man writes on his personal blog, ended up being 'mostly used for playing Galaga and Solitaire on long flights' even though they were naturally all phones run on open source operating systems. Things have changed now, he adds, now that he has caved and bought Google's Nexus One a couple of days ago."
Why? I mean the man is responsible for the free kernel that the phones use. The least companies could do is send him a free one with service contract. I thought Linus did get gifts like that.
I don't share much in common with Linus except maybe the phone, but I got my N1 exactly because of how evolved android had become, how beefy the hardware specs were (I was building PCs with roughly the same specs 8 years ago), and because I preferred a phone not marketed to me with a direct tie-in with a carrier. Overtly unlocked? Yes, please. Granted, it's not for everyone, but it is my first smartphone and I'm glad I waited.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
... most of my phones haven't had an OS that you could play Galaga or Solitaire on. Or really do much more than make a phone call.
Is it possible that the reason he hates phones is that he keeps buying computers masquerading as phones, rather than phones?
Also... he comments that he's always hated phones because they interrupt while he's trying to work or read. I don't know about anyone else, but if I don't want to be interrupted, I turn off the phone. The ringer, if it's a land-line, or the whole thing, if it's a cell. People can leave me a message and I'll listen to it later.
Basically, I can understand not liking the sound quality, or the microphone quality, or the weight, or the fact that it doesn't work anywhere you want to use it (all problems I've had in the past), but really... the things he's complaining about are issues with how he's using it, not with the phones. Maybe, like me, he's someone who just shouldn't have a cell phone, or should buy a small cheap one for emergency use, and not pay a monthly fee for it.
I expected Linus Torvalds to use something more geeky, e.g. N900 or one of OpenMoko devices, but in this case he has chosen user-friendliness instead of endless tinkering. Nexus One is probably one of the most user-friendly Linux-based devices to date (competing with WebOS devices in this respect), and it is very functional as well, so the choice seems obvious.
I hate mobile phones too. I've refused to have one for most of my life. And if a person, be it Linus or anyone else, hates mobile phones as much as I do and likes the Nexus One, I'll listen.
Maybe if the article was titled "Nexus One First *Linux* Phone Linus Torvalds "Doesn't Hate"" it'd be excusable.
Personally, I find the N900 is pretty much the first phone I don't hate. Not that it's so much a phone as a very slick ultraportable that you can make calls with.
I can mount my filesystems at home and play my mp3's over the radio transmitter. I can use it as a GPS. I can use it for pretty much anything I could use a netbook for.
As far as phone functionality goes, I'm considering not bothering and simply keeping the cheap fixed rate unlimited wireless data SIM I've got in it now and simply using skype, or perhaps even going to SIP with a PBX of my own. Meh. We'll see. (hmmm, maybe the n900 can run asterisk and _be_ a pbx...)
If I was looking for a 'phone', on the other hand, I think I'd be looking at one of the $30 ones, and certainly not at any of the current generation smart phones.
All I care about is a phone that has good audio quality so I can understand them and they me, and is small.
It's a PHONE people!!!
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
The Android API has always supported multitouch, and the recent update for the Nexus One adds multitouch for the browser and maps and images. Presumably there was a legal situation with Apple that's now been resolved.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
Your point is well taken, though. If you want to give away free samples, giving them to notorious critics of mostly everything is probably not a good idea.
An entertaining case in point.
My little brother just got a Nokia N900 and brought it over to show off. My impression: this just might be the first phone I've ever seen which doesn't suck. apt-get install whateverthefuckyouwant totally embarrasses everybody's "app store" and on top of that it's a fully working product.
Is Nexus One getting there too? Cool. I knew shitty phones' days were numbered, but had no idea just what that number was. Looks like we've finally gotten to 0 and I can start taking the phone market seriously.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
This reminds me of when Carmack got all excited about gaming on a Mac...that turned out so well for Apple's gaming options (boot into Windows, play game developed for Windows).
You're not "supposed" to care, it's just that a lot of us do as result of him being a celebrity among geeks. Besides, his viewpoint is more likely to be closer to ours, as a fellow geek, than that of Steve Jobs or any such marketeer that gets published by pop media.
He's exactly the sort of person I would want to hear give an opinion about this stuff. I may not agree with his opinion, time may prove him wrong, but it certainly provides an interesting starting point for a debate. Look at Clifford Stoll and his whole Silicon Snake Oil thing. He raised interesting questions about the internet and viability of e-commerce. I disagreed with his thesis and he has subsequently been proven wrong.
I'll listen to what a Jobs has to say. While I may not agree with all of his ideas, he has certainly had some winners over the years. He's someone who understands the industry. People I'd be less interested in listening to are Balmer and Gates. I don't think they really have a good grasp on the industry at this point and feel that we're living in the time future historians will point to as their decline years. I could be wrong, it's certainly good debate fodder, and time will prove it one way or another.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
From what I've read, Maemo suffers from the same problem that's always plagued Windows Mobile -- it's a great OS for a pocket-sized laptop, but it's not exactly the greatest user environment for making and receiving actual, voice phone calls.
Compare the way Android handles incoming phone calls to the way Windows Mobile and Linux in general do. When Android notices an incoming phone call, it instantly suspends the foreground app and devotes its full attention to handling that incoming call immediately. In start contrast, Windows Mobile and Linux (in general) regard an incoming call as just another event, neither more nor less inherently important than anything else. Well, ok... maybe a LITTLE more important, but with both WinMo and a traditional Linux kernel, you ARE going to end up with situations where an incoming call ends up going to voicemail because the system decided it was just too busy doing something else to deal with the call right that instant.
If the user thinks incoming calls are no big deal, they'll prefer the way WinMo and Linux work. If a user thinks an incoming call that ends up going to voicemail despite his best efforts is a catastrophe, he'll prefer the way Android works. I don't personally know Linus, but I've definitely gotten the impression that he falls into the "do whatever it takes to make the phone first and foremost work flawlessly as a phone" camp. Who knows, it might have even been something as trivial as Linus picking up a friend's N900 with one hand, trying to bring up the phone directory using only his thumb, being unable to guess how to make it happen in 2 seconds, and deciding it just wasn't the paradigm he was looking for.
Yeah, I'm probably just being completely unreasonable, wanting to listen to my XM radio app, while reading an ebook, using the FaceBook app, or browsing websites with my Touch. I should thank Apple for helping me learn the discipline to pick one time-waster at a time and stick with it. Unfortunately my Pre is reinforcing those bad habits with its needless multitasking.....damn you Palm!
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
When I got my N900 it was several days before I bothered moving my SIM card over to it. It was so much fun to carry around and use anyway. I used local WIFI connections.
The phone functionality is pretty minor part of the device.
Popping up remote X windows on the phone rocks, and the display is awesome.
I am now omnipotent!