Linus Torvalds
Shareware tends to combine the worst of commercial software with the worst of free software.Collection: Computers
I often compare open source to science. To where science took this whole notion of developing ideas in the open and improving on other peoples' ideas and making it into what science is today and the incredible advances that we have had. And I compare that to witchcraft and alchemy, where openness was something you didn't do.Collection: Science
Turtles are very stable and have been around forever. But they have problems adapting. When humans came along, turtles came under serious threat. Biodiversity is good, and I think it is good in technology as well.Collection: Technology
The cyberspace earnings I get from Linux come in the format of having a Network of people that know me and trust me, and that I can depend on in return.Collection: Trust
Hey, I'm a good software engineer, but I'm not exactly known for my fashion sense. White socks and sandals don't translate to 'good design sense'.Collection: Design
I actually think that I'm a rather optimistic and happy person; it's just that I'm not a very positive person, if you see the difference.Collection: Positive
I'm interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn't started as any kind of rebellion against the 'evil Microsoft empire.'Collection: Technology
I'm sitting in my home office wearing a bathrobe. The same way I'm not going to start wearing ties, I'm also not going to buy into the fake politeness, the lying, the office politics and backstabbing, the passive aggressiveness, and the buzzwords.Collection: Home
Most good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program.Collection: Good
That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle.Collection: Positive
The Linux philosophy is 'Laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong One. 'Do it yourself'. Yes, that's it.Collection: Technology
Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done.Collection: Work
To be honest, the fact that people trust you gives you a lot of power over people. Having another person's trust is more powerful than all other management techniques put together.Collection: Trust
Microsoft isn't evil, they just make really crappy operating systems.Collection: Technology
Software is like sex: it's better when it's free.
My name is Linus, and I am your God.
See, you not only have to be a good coder to create a system like Linux, you have to be a sneaky bastard too.
In real open source, you have the right to control your own destiny.
In open source, we feel strongly that to really do something well, you have to get a lot of people involved.
If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won.
To be a nemesis, you have to actively try to destroy something, don't you? Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect.
I'm generally a very pragmatic person: that which works, works.
The memory management on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children.
I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.
No-one has ever called me a cool dude. I'm somewhere between geek and normal.
Helsinki isn't all that bad. It's a very nice city, and it's cold really only in wintertime.
I want my office to be quiet. The loudest thing in the room - by far - should be the occasional purring of the cat.
You won't get sued for anticompetitive behavior.
Any program is only as good as it is useful.
Once you start thinking more about where you want to be than about making the best product, you're screwed.
I think of myself as an engineer, not as a visionary or 'big thinker.' I don't have any lofty goals.
The fame and reputation part came later, and never was much of a motivator, although it did enable me to work without feeling guilty about neglecting my studies.
Non-technical questions sometimes don't have an answer at all.
I'm perfectly happy complaining, because it's cathartic, and I'm perfectly happy arguing with people on the Internet because arguing is my favourite pastime - not programming.
When you say 'I wrote a program that crashed Windows,' people just stare at you blankly and say 'Hey, I got those with the system, for free.'
I do get my pizzas paid for by Linux indirectly.
The thing with Linux is that the developers themselves are actually customers too: that has always been an important part of Linux.
In my opinion MS is a lot better at making money than it is at making good operating systems.
Every once in a while an issue comes up where I have to make a statement. I can't totally avoid all political issues, but I try my best to minimize them. When I do make a statement, I try to be fairly neutral.
I don't try to be a threat to MicroSoft, mainly because I don't really see MS as competition. Especially not Windows-the goals of Linux and Windows are simply so different.
The economics of the security world are all horribly, horribly nasty and are largely based on fear, intimidation and blackmail.
I lose sleep if I end up feeling bad about something I've said. Usually that happens when I send something out without having read it over a few times, or when I call somebody names.
I don't expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.
I get the biggest enjoyment from the random and unexpected places. Linux on cellphones or refrigerators, just because it's so not what I envisioned it. Or on supercomputers.
I personally think of Linux development as being pretty non-localized, and I work with all the people entirely over e-mail - even if they happen to be working in the Portland area.
People enjoy the interaction on the Internet, and the feeling of belonging to a group that does something interesting: that's how some software projects are born.
In many cases, the user interface to a program is the most important part for a commercial company: whether the programs works correctly or not seems to be secondary.
I very seldom worry about other systems. I concentrate pretty fully on just making Linux the best I can.
I don't see myself as a visionary at all.
I never felt that the naming issue was all that important, but I was obviously wrong, judging by how many people felt. I tell people to call it just plain Linux and nothing more.