Now It's Doctor Linus Torvalds

Uart writes "Linus Torvalds, is the youngest recipient (at 29) ever of The University of Stockholm's honorary doctorate. Read about it here." (From Linux Today).

Comments

It IS deserved

[Grimwiz]

I was told that a doctorate was awarded for
expanding the field of human knowledge, this is
the reason you have to choose a unique field
when you do one at college.
Linus has, (possibly inadvertantly at the time)
changed how we look at computer software.
I also think he has expanded the field of
achievements in computer science. 7 years ago
when I first saw the paradigm he was putting
forward I knew this was something new which was
only then starting to become reality due to the
internet.
I believe he may deserve a doctorate for three
reasons...
1) He's a very good programmer and a smart cookie.
2) He's popularised a new way of producing software.
3) He's changed the course of history.
Now he'll have to field silly phone calls from
panicing babysitters who pick up the phone book
and look at the first Dr. they see.

Re:Honorary degrees mean more

[jilles]

27 years of programming is not the same as an academic title.

"But counting soley on a degree to evaluate a person's worth is plain oversimplification"

I agree with you on that.

"A technical exam at the interview is both more fair and certain."

There's a lot more than technique you learn at a university. You can't test that in a simple technical exam. A university diploma certifies you as a person who got through a school that is known to be tough and challenging. This qualifies you as somebody with a certain amount of cleverness. On the otherhand if you drop out of college, that generally is a sign that you don't have what it takes to finnish college. This does not necessarily qualify you as an idiot but it is not exactly proof of the opposite either.

"But honorary PhDs are closer to what the real meaning of the degree should be"

Honorary Ph Ds are usually given to people who contributed in a positive way to society. Nelson Mandela for instance has several honorary Ph Ds. Seen in this light, Linus Torvalds Ph D. is entirely justified since he contributed to society. A honorary Ph D. is not the same as a normal Ph. D. since it does not have the requirement that you also contributed to science (which neither Mandela or Torvalds has done as far as I know). Often of course honorary Ph. Ds are given to people who did contribute to science but that is beside the point. It is not a requirement for receiving one.

A degree merely classifies you as somebody who reached a certain milestone. To get one you have to pass tests. If you fail those tests you don't reach your milestone (at least not in a verifiable way) and you don't get a degree. It's that simple.

So when you apply for a job and you can say I have this degree, your future employer knows what you are capable of.

Re:Really Dr.?

[Bassthang]

No. Or more precisely, a different kind of weight. That is acceptance by the senior academic hierarchy of the importance of your (possibly non-academic) achiements; as opposed to the recognition by your peers in your specialist subject of a level of knowledge of that field and of research in general that is signified by a normal PhD.

So the big-wigs at Stockholm think Linus is hot stuff, whereas the CS department there would in theory require him to submit a thesis if he wanted a PhD from them!

Honorary degrees mean more

[jflynn]

I'm completely with you on the general uselessness of college certification. After all, I'm a college dropout myself but like to pretend that 27 years programming means something too. This is not to say that lots of smart people don't have degrees, or that college is a bad idea, they do and it's not. But counting soley on a degree to evaluate a person's worth is plain oversimplification. A technical exam at the interview is both more fair and certain.

But honorary PhDs are closer to what the real meaning of the degree should be. Someone who has not only mastered their field, but contributed to it significantly. In that sense I think this award to Dr. Torvalds is right on, and he deserves congratulations for it. If only all degrees were so well bestowed.

That's Nice...

[LHOOQtius_ov_Borg]

Gee, well, that's nice for Linus and all, and I'm happy for him. It doesn't entitle him to call himself Dr. Torvalds, but who cares? He's a smart guy, did great work for the open source community, and deserves to be rewarded for it. What this really means to his life and work, though, is probably nothing...

Incidentally, how come other major contributors to UNIX and Linux development (Rob Pike immediately comes to mind, as he only has a B.S. yet is a full research MTS at Bell Labs) haven't been conferred such honors? Why? Publicity. Hype. Lobbying. That's about it.

Linux is a good OS, but it's not the end-all and be-all of UNIXen and UNIX-like variant OSes (sorry, but I pick OSes by their strengths for a particular job, and I will go to NetBSD, Solaris, and Irix as much as Linux... and NT on those rare occasions where it makes sense...), but the one thing it has over all others is good PR (and impeccable (Internet) timing)...