neal writes "Fortune has an article that selects Linus as one of the'people' to watch in 2000! " Just another sign of the recognition that Linux and Open Source as a whole has garnered over the last eighteen months or so. Here's to 2000 being even better than 1999.
It's amazing how much positive feedback that one man generates. There's not a lot of computer people we can point to that we can say, "Now THAT person embodies a lot of good things in the computer community, and good things to come."
Even MS boosters don't rally behind Bill like this. (I should know.)
Indeed. What fascinates me is how much respect Linus gets. When he says something, people really listen. Contrast that to Bill Gates. Most people I know don't really care what he says. ----
I care. When I have the need to use a strange new hardware device that I don't know much about, I find that the kernel Mr. Torvalds shapes is easy to configure, debug, and fix. Might I mention that the kernel is very flexible and most reliable. So, I'm not surprised when a kernel he hacks creates a great impact on the computing industry. If you don't watch what he does, you might be in the dark.
The vaguely anticapitalist crusade is about the only faintly new comment, and only insofar as that's a three word way of nicely describing the ambiguity of the relationship between "free software" and "business."
Boy, this is liable turn into an illuminating thread... NOT.
-- If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
It would have been more interesting if...
by
Howard+Beale
·
· Score: 2
he was one of People's "25 most intriguing people of '99":)
Well, this is going to start one more of those long whiny threads about "well why the hell does it matter?" that followed the Time POTMillennium article. (Or will it? After all, this is Linus himself...)
So let me get in my $0.02: it does matter. Your marketroids and PHBs will look at Fortune, and say, ooo, Linux! A new buzzword! And maybe, just maybe, they'll ask their sysadmin to try it out, instead of attempting to install it themselves on their ultra-new winmodem-equipped laptop. One can wish, right? Especially in this season?
As for AE on the cover of Time magazine, maybe they'll say, ooo, Einstein. Isn't he the E=mc^2 dude? and then take a few moments to learn about some of the radical and cool stuff physics / astronomy has accomplished in the last fifty years. (And let me assure the unconvinced - long after the Civil war, India's independence and even WWII have faded into obscurity as long-ago provincial conflicts, Einstein's accomplishments will be remembered and used on a daily basis!)
Or maybe the PHB's will pick up a few more unemployed physics grad students? That wouldn't be so bad either...:)
-- "I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."
I think the point the original poster made (I'm a bit surprised, too) is not that he works for free for Transmeta but that he works for free for Transmeta. Can this be confirmed?
In case you were wondering, these are the other people that Fortune has picked besides Linus as people to watch in 2000:
Jeff Bezos- Amazon.com Mike Armstrong- AT&T Jill Barad- Mattel Jeffrey Immelt- General Electric Michael Eisner/Steve Jobs- as Disney/Pixar and not as Apple CEO David Komansky- Merrill Lynch John Reed / Robert Rubin / Sandy Weill- Citicorp Bill Ford Jr- Ford Motor Co. Mary Meeker- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Chris Gent- Vodafone Nobuyuki Idei- Sony Bill Gates- Microsoft Lou Gerstner- IBM Peter Drucker- business management guru Carly Fiorina- HP
Hmm, Linus, Bill Gates, Carly Fiorina, and Jeff Bezos: only four computer people. Or should that be : wow, four computer people. In any case, I think only one (guess which) is a real computer person, the others are just businessmen who have something to do with computers.
Where the hell have you been, the north poll? More people know who Linus is and where he works (transmeta) than people know who bill gates is.
Ummm, I'd be more than willing to put money up that says you are wrong. Outside of the geek community, Linus is hardly known at all. Sure, he is poping up more and more, but he isn't as well known as Steve Jobs, let alone the (in)famous Mr. Gates.
And ease up a little. It's people like you that turn people off to this little "open source" movement. Here is a newbie, with a simple question and you flip out on him. I'm sure when you arrived at slashdot, you knew every major player, their bio's and current job right?
Finkployd
Every good ship needs a figurehead.
by
belgin
·
· Score: 3
And for the GPL, the media has selected Linus Torvalds. There are people who have only the vaguest idea of what that free software thingy is, but they have heard of Linus Torvalds to one degree or another. As/. discussion on the TIME POTC pointed out, it is not always the most talented or brilliant who becomes the icon for an ideal, but the one percieved to start things and is known to the people.
Another example of this in American history is General George Washington. He hardly ever won a battle in our Revolutionary War, but was hailed a great leader of men and was pretty much offered the position of King of the United States of America, if he wanted it. (He didn't.) It doesn't matter too much what he did and didn't do, because he was a cultural icon. He symbolized a great freedom in the minds of the residents of a struggling group of colonies, and later in a young nation. Einstien also falls into the category of cultural icons for the twentieth century.
Linus is stepping into the same role (on a smaller scale for now) in the concept of open source. People outside the open source community see him and say, "Oh, that's the guy who wrote Linux. He represents that free software movement." Whether it is good or bad, this is the path that I see before us.
B. Elgin
--
B. Elgin
"Read at your own risk; feel free to ignore."
He has children to support. He's not living in a cheap part of the country. I doubt he's volunteering at a commercial company. (Especially when every article about his says that he works there, as does he.)
--
Gates' Law: Every 18 months, the speed of software halves.
Linux was, I'm sure, put on the list due to the sudden upsurge of popularity and fame regarding Linux. But, if I were choosing, I'd have had a hard time deciding who's responsible for Linux doing so well. Sure, Linus started it, but without many others, it probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere... The community as whole is self-reliant, and requires the whole of itself to thrive as it does. Linux is not now, nor has it really ever been, a one-person job, so it's hard to credit one person as being more important than others. Too bad it wasn't things to watch. I'd be much happier having seen "The Linux Community" instead of Linus.
But good for him, nonetheless.
-- Devilled Eggs - A disturbing little creation of mine.
Umm, I guess they want to pay him because the company he created basically defined what a successful e-commerce operation should look like, beat much larger competitors hands down, and has been providing excellent service to bookworms like me all around the planet. They only recently screwed up with the "one-click" litigation issue. --
Slashdot Mirror
It's amazing how much positive feedback that one man generates. There's not a lot of computer people we can point to that we can say, "Now THAT person embodies a lot of good things in the computer community, and good things to come."
Even MS boosters don't rally behind Bill like this. (I should know.)
What's your damage, Heather?
who cares?
I care. When I have the need to use a strange new hardware device that I don't know much about, I find that the kernel Mr. Torvalds shapes is easy to configure, debug, and fix. Might I mention that the kernel is very flexible and most reliable. So, I'm not surprised when a kernel he hacks creates a great impact on the computing industry. If you don't watch what he does, you might be in the dark.
Boy, this is liable turn into an illuminating thread... NOT.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
he was one of People's "25 most intriguing people of '99" :)
So let me get in my $0.02: it does matter. Your marketroids and PHBs will look at Fortune, and say, ooo, Linux! A new buzzword! And maybe, just maybe, they'll ask their sysadmin to try it out, instead of attempting to install it themselves on their ultra-new winmodem-equipped laptop. One can wish, right? Especially in this season?
As for AE on the cover of Time magazine, maybe they'll say, ooo, Einstein. Isn't he the E=mc^2 dude? and then take a few moments to learn about some of the radical and cool stuff physics / astronomy has accomplished in the last fifty years. (And let me assure the unconvinced - long after the Civil war, India's independence and even WWII have faded into obscurity as long-ago provincial conflicts, Einstein's accomplishments will be remembered and used on a daily basis!)
Or maybe the PHB's will pick up a few more unemployed physics grad students? That wouldn't be so bad either... :)
"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."
Eric
In case you were wondering, these are the other people that Fortune has picked besides Linus as people to watch in 2000:
Jeff Bezos- Amazon.com
Mike Armstrong- AT&T
Jill Barad- Mattel
Jeffrey Immelt- General Electric
Michael Eisner/Steve Jobs- as Disney/Pixar and not as Apple CEO
David Komansky- Merrill Lynch
John Reed / Robert Rubin / Sandy Weill- Citicorp
Bill Ford Jr- Ford Motor Co.
Mary Meeker- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Chris Gent- Vodafone
Nobuyuki Idei- Sony
Bill Gates- Microsoft
Lou Gerstner- IBM
Peter Drucker- business management guru
Carly Fiorina- HP
Linus was listed last in this list.
If you want to pay me for losing money and then hype me up as an "ingenius innovator" I'll send you my address...
Where the hell have you been, the north poll? More people know who Linus is and where he works (transmeta) than people know who bill gates is.
Ummm, I'd be more than willing to put money up that says you are wrong. Outside of the geek community, Linus is hardly known at all. Sure, he is poping up more and more, but he isn't as well known as Steve Jobs, let alone the (in)famous Mr. Gates.
And ease up a little. It's people like you that turn people off to this little "open source" movement. Here is a newbie, with a simple question and you flip out on him. I'm sure when you arrived at slashdot, you knew every major player, their bio's and current job right?
Finkployd
Another example of this in American history is General George Washington. He hardly ever won a battle in our Revolutionary War, but was hailed a great leader of men and was pretty much offered the position of King of the United States of America, if he wanted it. (He didn't.) It doesn't matter too much what he did and didn't do, because he was a cultural icon. He symbolized a great freedom in the minds of the residents of a struggling group of colonies, and later in a young nation. Einstien also falls into the category of cultural icons for the twentieth century.
Linus is stepping into the same role (on a smaller scale for now) in the concept of open source. People outside the open source community see him and say, "Oh, that's the guy who wrote Linux. He represents that free software movement." Whether it is good or bad, this is the path that I see before us.
B. Elgin
B. Elgin
"Read at your own risk; feel free to ignore."
He has children to support. He's not living in a cheap part of the country. I doubt he's volunteering at a commercial company. (Especially when every article about his says that he works there, as does he.)
Gates' Law: Every 18 months, the speed of software halves.
Linux was, I'm sure, put on the list due to the sudden upsurge of popularity and fame regarding Linux. But, if I were choosing, I'd have had a hard time deciding who's responsible for Linux doing so well. Sure, Linus started it, but without many others, it probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere... The community as whole is self-reliant, and requires the whole of itself to thrive as it does. Linux is not now, nor has it really ever been, a one-person job, so it's hard to credit one person as being more important than others. Too bad it wasn't things to watch. I'd be much happier having seen "The Linux Community" instead of Linus.
But good for him, nonetheless.
Devilled Eggs - A disturbing little creation of mine.
Umm, I guess they want to pay him because the company he created basically defined what a successful e-commerce operation should look like, beat much larger competitors hands down, and has been providing excellent service to bookworms like me all around the planet. They only recently screwed up with the "one-click" litigation issue.
--
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