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On-line Chat with Linus Torvalds

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the chat-with-the-big-guy dept.

Scott Johnson writes "This Wednesday at 2pm, EDT, ABC News will be having an online chat with Linus Torvalds. This should be very interesting compared to some of their previous guests... :-) "

6 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Response to Slashdot readers by gavinhall · · Score: 2

    Posted by Mike@ABC:

    OK, guys. I've read your complaints, comments, hopes and dreams for this chat, and I'm prepped to answer a few of your questions and hopefully ease your minds a bit, since I'll be the guy moderating the chat.

    1) I will NOT post questions like "what kind of car do you drive?" or "do you like cheese?" I might throw in one personal-type question, but I'll make it as relevant and interesting as possible.

    2) On the other hand, I won't post questions like "why did you hack the kernel this way when you could've done it this way?" followed by a stream of code incomprehensible to 99 percent of our readers. We're ABCNEWS.com, not a developers' forum. We want the chat to apply to as many people as possible, while remaining informative and on-topic.

    3) We'll handle as many questions as Linus can answer. Our chat with Bob Young was indeed slower than I would've liked. Unfortunately, while Bob is a very nice guy and a savvy businessman, he doesn't type very fast.

    Those are all the promises I can make, folks. We do, however, want this to be a solid, informative chat for not only you guys, but for the general public. The masses are starting to get clued in -- I had a doorman at the San Jose Hyatt ask me about Linux a few months ago -- and this is a chance for them to hear it from Linus himself.

    So stop on by tomorrow and check it out. Or come back later that day -- we'll post a transcript. Thanks, folks.

  2. Re:?'s by Christopher+Thomas · · Score: 2
    Can anyone explain why some articles have ?'s instead of 's?


    If I understand correctly, this is because Microsoft's browser and web page design software disagree with the rest of the world over how to encode backquotes. The result is that these show up as question marks on other browsers.


    That, or else what everyone else sees as backquotes show up as question marks on Microsoft browsers. It's been a long time since I read the article that discussed this, so I'm hazy on the details.

  3. What's an OS? by Androgynous+Coward · · Score: 2

    Ask the above to most people these days and they now understand that it's what makes the computer work which is better than 5 years ago. Ask them "what's a kernel" and you'll get a blank stare. I'm assuming they need to dumb it down as to not scare people away. I agree that nit-picking shouldn't be initiated in the form of a GNU/Linux argument.

    AC

  4. How true by Hermelin · · Score: 2

    Maybe the problem is that it was pushed before it was really good enough to let an idiot use it. You don't take a beginner skier on the big hills right away. You put them on the bunny hill, and have them slowly build up to the big hills. With Windows you are stuck on the bunny hill.

    The basic lack of understanding about computers comes from the iMac. Those commericals with Jeff Goldblum say you use your computer just for e-mail and the net. And basically that is was most people do. You can use an Amiga to do that, if you wanted to. People don't care. I am starting to care. I want to delete Windows so badly.

    Ebay went out for a few hours, and the world goes to hell for some people. Okay, Windows crashes stuff randomly and with more annoyances on average. This is the first time I've heard that Ebay had problems. Have you heard anyone ever say that about Windows?

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - F. Voltaire.
    1. Re:How true by piedpiper · · Score: 2

      Hey, leave the iMac out of this, what did it ever do to you???? After all, it fills in the blanks for that very very large segment of the population that Windows also tries to fill--- all those people out there who not only don't know about computers, but don't want to know. (yeah, it's scary, huh?)

      Problem is that Linux, no matter how easy it becomes to use (take a look at Caldera 2.2) or how mainstream it tries to be, is still somewhat dauntiung. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this, but to the technophobe it can be intimidating to suddenly let go of your entire operating system for one that was put together by hobbyists. And what if something goes wrong? Fact is that most people don't know and don't want to know about their computers. After a little while, a time that seems to be getting closer everyday, the people who DON'T think that it's fun to stay up all night playing with their computers will start buying machines with Linux preinstalled. But will they go out of their way? Not a chance.

      More importantly, do we want them to? Probably not.

  5. Hope by HoppingCow · · Score: 3
    Linux is almost ready for the prime time.


    However, I find the basic lack of understanding among pop culture icons a bit alarming. Just as Linux bigots have "unix goggles" and can not comprehend the utility of a Windowz box; all to often the people on the street I talk to have little comprehension of any issue that does not involve their email.


    Lately, I find most of the attention paid to Linux is on the novel side. As in, "Gee! A new flashy, shiny toy! Let's run a couple pieces, cuz everyone else is."


    Not to downplay the fact that a pretty cool Uber Geek will be taking part of ABC's online forum, but I hope that it is approached with a sense of seriousness and professionalism...


    Not reduced to ... "but, can it handle my Outlook Express?"