Zitat des Tages von Linus Torvalds:
Shareware tends to combine the worst of commercial software with the worst of free software.
Before the commercial ventures, Linux tended to be rather hard to set up, because most of the developers were motivated mainly by their own interests.
Helsinki may not be as cold as you make it out to be, but California is still a lot nicer. I don't remember the last time I couldn't walk around in shorts all day.
That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle.
I've been employed by the University of Helsinki, and they've been perfectly happy to keep me employed and doing Linux.
Artists usually don't make all that much money, and they often keep their artistic hobby despite the money rather than due to it.
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.
What I find most interesting is how people really have taken Linux and used it in ways and attributes and motivations that I never felt.
Linux has definitely made a lot of sense even in a purely materialistic sense.
Microsoft isn't evil, they just make really crappy operating systems.
In real open source, you have the right to control your own destiny.
A consumer doesn't take anything away: he doesn't actually consume anything. Giving the same thing to a thousand consumers is not really any more expensive than giving it to just one.
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.
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.'
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.
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.
If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won.
Finnish companies tend to be very traditional, not taking many risks. Silicon Valley is completely different: people here really live on the edge.
In many ways, I am very happy about the whole Linux commercial market because the commercial market is doing all these things that I have absolutely zero interest in doing myself.
I like to think that I've been a good manager. That fact has been very instrumental in making Linux a successful product.
I don't have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I'm doing.
When it comes to software, I much prefer free software, because I have very seldom seen a program that has worked well enough for my needs, and having sources available can be a life-saver.
Software is like sex: it's better when it's free.
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.
The memory management on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children.
I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up.
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.
There are lots of Linux users who don't care how the kernel works, but only want to use it. That is a tribute to how good Linux is.
The economics of the security world are all horribly, horribly nasty and are largely based on fear, intimidation and blackmail.
I'd much rather have 15 people arguing about something than 15 people splitting into two camps, each side convinced it's right and not talking to the other.
The Linux philosophy is 'Laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong One. 'Do it yourself'. Yes, that's it.
I've been very happy with the commercial Linux CD-ROM vendors linux Red Hat.
Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done.
Programmers are in the enviable position of not only getting to do what they want to, but because the end result is so important they get paid to do it. There are other professions like that, but not that many.
I used to be interested in Windows NT, but the more I see it, the more it looks like traditional Windows with a stabler kernel. I don't find anything technically interesting there.
