Slashdot Mirror
Interview: Ask Linus Torvalds a Question
samzenpus writes: Linus Torvalds, the man behind the development of the Linux kernel, needs no introduction to Slashdot readers. Recently, we talked about his opinion on C++, and he talked about the future of Linux when he's gone. It's been a while since we sat down with Linus to ask him questions, so he's agreed to do it again and answer any you may have. Ask as many questions as you'd like, but please keep them to one per post.
When you've handed over the rei(g)ns for Linux, will there be other worlds worth conquering?
[Please say AI... Please!]
Why do you think its still near-impossible to buy a laptop with Linux preinstalled?
You've somehow managed to originate two insanely useful pieces of software: Linux, and Git.
Do you think there's anything in your work habits, your approach to choosing projects, etc., that have helped you achieve that level of productivity? Or is it just the traditional combination of talent, effort, and luck?
Do you think Valve is capable of making Linux a primary choice for gamers?
According to Thomas Gleixner, the future of the realtime patchset to Linux is in doubt [1], as it is difficult to secure funding from interested parties on this functionality even though it is both useful and important:
What are your thoughts on this, and what do you think we need to do to get more support behind the RT patchset, especially considering Linux's increasing use in embedded systems where realtime functionality is undoubtedly useful.
[1] https://lwn.net/Articles/604695/
So you've mentioned the Linux project should be fine should you choose to go. How long do think you'll be in the game for? Is this a hint that something is coming?
systemd.....why?
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
Star Trek Original Series or The Next Generation?
Since you apparently still use just mail, text editor and git from command line for work, did we get graphical user interfaces completely wrong? Is there something fundamentally broken in GUI systems(or their design(ers))?
If you were to build linux again, what would be the one most important thing you would do differently
The most complex program running on a machine is arguably its OS, especially the kernel. Linux (kernel) reached the top level in terms of performance, reliability and versatility. You have been criticized quite a few times for some virulent mails addressed to developers. Do you think Linux would be where it is without managing the project with an iron fist? To go further, do you think some other main OSS project would beneficiate from a more rigorous management approach?
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
While historically you've been a C and Assembly guy (and the odd shell scripting and such), what do you think of functional languages such as Lisp, Closure, Haskell, etc? Do you see any advantages to them, or do you view them as frivolous and impractical?
If you decide to do so, thanks for taking the time to answer my question! You're a legend at what you do, and I think it's awesome that the significantly less interesting me can ask you a question like this.
"Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
There wasn't a decent unix-like kernel, you wrote one which ultimately became the most used.
There wasn't a decent version control software, you wrote one which ultimately became the most love.
Do you think we already have a decent init system, or do you have plan to write one that will ultimately settle the world on that hot topic?
Video of some good progressive thrash music
The word "Socialist" is no longer a dirty one in the US and at least one presidential candidate is openly running under the label expecting nomination from a major party.
Your own country is one of those, that is part of humanity's unwitting experiment of the 20th century, when identical (or very similar) peoples lived under Socialism and Capitalism in parallel.
Would Linux have been created, had Finland fallen to the Red Army as Estonia did in 1940, and lived under USSR-imposed Socialism until the 1990-ies?.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Mr. Torvalds,
For many uses of Linux such as on the desktop, other software beyond the kernel and the base GNU tools are required. What other projects would you like to see given priority, and what would you like to see implemented or improved?
Admittedly I thought most about X-Windows when asking this question; but I don't doubt that other daemons or systems can be just as important to the user experience.
Thank you for your efforts all these years.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I want Linux on a laptop. The bulk of my work involves connecting at the command-line to other systems, sometimes through SSH, sometimes through serial. I like that the same command-line interface for initiating these connections is also the command line interface through which I can manipulate files in the filesystem, edit files through text editors, and manipulate files through command-line utilities.
While usually I can do my work from the office, sometimes I have to work in the field too. It's much easier to have one computer doing that work than it is to have one at the office, one out in the field, and one at home. Unfortunately the newest batch of portable computers, the convertible tablets, don't work well with X-Windows. This means having to have a separate computer at the office to connect into in order to work out of if I want access to everything that is helpful.
I've played with OSX-based laptops, I find the GUI clunky when it comes to working with multiple terminal windows, as Apple has taken the approach of using Apple-Tab to switch between applications, rather than switch between windows. It's more awkward than it should be to switch between multiple terminal sessions quickly. It also doesn't help that Apple has removed important keys from the keyboard, like pgup/pgdn, home/end, back-tab as shift of tab, and the distinction between backspace and delete, so a lot of the keys and combinations that I use effectively aren't available to me on the Mac.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
What do you think about the "anykernel" concept (invented by another Finn btw) used in NetBSD? Basically, they have modularized the code so that a driver can be built either in a monolithic kernel or for user space without source code changes ( rumpkernel.org ). The drivers are highly portable and used in Genode os (L4 type kernels), minix etc... Would this be possible or desirable for Linux? Apparently there is one attempt called "libos"...
Just because YOU don't want to want to run Linux on a Laptop, does NOT mean NO ONE does!!! Many of us PREFER Linux OVER Windoze.
/., Linux, and the Open Source community.
I have been running Debian Linux on Laptops, Desktops, and Severs for at least 10 years with great success!
So go back to running Windoze, and just ignore
I don't have a question for Linus Torvalds, but I do have a story about asking Linus Torvalds a question. Back when I first started using Linux in 1995, I couldn't get the 'top' utility to run after a kernel update. I was only a kid at the time, and for whatever reason I figured the best approach was to just email Linus Torvalds himself to ask how to fix it. Little did I realize that would have been like emailing Bill Gates for help because a driver didn't install correctly on Windows. Surprisingly, Linus wrote back and explained that I needed to update my version of procps (or whatever it was called at the time). Linus, if you are reading this comment, I'd like to say thanks again for the tech support. ;^)
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
Several years ago, you were employed by Transmeta designing the Crusoe processor. I understand you are quite knowledgeable about cpu architecture. What are your thoughts on the Current Intel and AMD x86 CPUs particularly in comparison with ARM and IBM's Power8 CPUs? Where do you see the advantages of each one?
Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
Linus - My observation is that folks who're blindingly successful have a degree of asshole-ness to them. Jobs, Gates, Musk, Torvalds. Probably the US founding fathers, and Einstein and Edison. All the right degree of 'f em, I know what needs to be done.' Is that a correct assessment of you? do you have an external face, and one that is the more real you, or are you an asshole through and through?
Aside from adding drivers and refactoring algorithms when performance limits are discovered, is there anything left for the kernel?
Maybe it's a failure of tech journalism but we never hear about the next big thing in kernel land anymore.
Obviously, you use Linux every day. What distribution do you use? Do you have a preferred desktop environment or window manager? A preferred text editor?
...but it's being eaten...by some...Linux or something...
How do you stay up to date with tech news? Do you read Slashdot on a regular basis, or where else do you get your news from?
What do you think of the newer computer languages ?
Rust, Swift,Go,Haskell,D,etc
Keep up the good work, the world needs fewer meglomaniacs building evil empires.
P.S. What do think of the idea of a VM sandbox safe area to run a systems internet facing programs in ?
This would be to limit malware/virus/etc access.
This is my opinion based on what little I know and understand of the rumors and lies Thanks, Randal
Is there any inspiration that a GPU based kernel / scheduler has for you? How might Linux be improved to better take advantage of GPU-type batch execution models. Given that you worked transmeta and JIT compiled host-targetted runtimes. GPUs 1,000-thread schedulers seem like the next great paradigm for the exact type of machines that Linux does best on.
-Michael