Linus Torvalds Quotes
Top 100 wise famous quotes and sayings by Linus Torvalds
Linus Torvalds Famous Quotes & Sayings
Discover top inspirational quotes from Linus Torvalds on Wise Famous Quotes.
The economics of the security world are all horribly, horribly nasty and are largely based on fear, intimidation and blackmail.
Real quality means making sure that people are proud of the code they write, that they're involved and taking it personally.
I never try to make any far-reaching predictions, so much can happen that it simply only makes you look stupid a few years later.
Once you start thinking more about where you want to be than about making the best product, you're screwed.
And 1.1.81 is officially BugFree(tm), so if you receive any bug-reports on it, you know they are just evil lies.
It just makes it even harder for people to even approach the (open source) side, when they then end up having to worry about public humiliation.
Whoever came up with "hold the shift key for eight seconds to turn on 'your keyboard is buggered' mode" should be shot.
Part of doing Linux was that I had to communicate a lot more instead of just being a geek in front of a computer.
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'.
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.
I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up.
On a purely technical side, I'm really very happy with how Linux gets used in a very wide set of different areas. It's important for development.
The idea of abstracting away the one thing that must be blindingly fast, the kernel, is inherently counter productive.
I am very happy about Android obviously. I use Android, and it's actually made cellphones very usable.
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.'
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.
See, you not only have to be a good coder to create a system like Linux, you have to be a sneaky bastard too.
I very seldom worry about other systems. I concentrate pretty fully on just making Linux the best I can.
If you think penguins are fat and waddle, you have never been attacked by one running at you in excess of 100 miles per hour.
I think of myself as an engineer, not as a visionary or 'big thinker.' I don't have any lofty goals.
I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.
The bulk of all patents are crap. Spending time reading them is stupid. It's up to the patent owner to do so, and to enforce them.
Only wimps use tape backup. REAL men just upload their important stuff on ftp and let the rest of the world mirror it.
I've been employed by the University of Helsinki, and they've been perfectly happy to keep me employed and doing Linux.
It was such a relief to program in user mode for a change. Not having to care about the small stuff is wonderful.
With software, you really can replicate and do a lot of very real and active development in parallel, and actually try it out and see what works.
The way to do good basic design isn't actually to be really smart about it, but to try to have a few basic concepts.
OK, I admit it. I was just a front-man for the real fathers of Linux, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.
I spend a lot more time than any person should have to talking with lawyers and thinking about intellectual property issues.
I don't think commercialization is the answer to anything. It's just one more facet of Linux, and not the deciding one by any means.
If you want to travel around the world and be invited to speak at a lot
of different places, just write a Unix operating system.
of different places, just write a Unix operating system.
I may make jokes about Microsoft at times, but at the same time, I think the Microsoft hatred is a disease.
I started Linux as a desktop operating system. And it's the only area where Linux hasn't completely taken over. That just annoys the hell out of me.
I don't expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.
Every time I see some piece of medical research saying that caffeine is good for you, I high-five myself. Because I'm going to live forever.
I'm a technical manager, but I don't have to take care of people. I only have to worry about technology itself.
Personally, I'm not interested in making device drivers look like user-level. They aren't, they shouldn't be, and microkernels are just stupid.
That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle.
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.
Finnish companies tend to be very traditional, not taking many risks. Silicon Valley is completely different: people here really live on the edge.
I want my office to be quiet. The loudest thing in the room - by far - should be the occasional purring of the cat.
Bad programmers worry about the code. Good programmers worry about data structures and their relationships.
I'm interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn't started as any kind of rebellion against the 'evil Microsoft empire.'
I think, fundamentally, open source does tend to be more stable software. It's the right way to do things.
If you start doing things because you hate others and want to screw them over, the end result is bad.
Quite frankly, even if the choice of C were to do *nothing* but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would be a huge reason to use C.
I think people can generally trust me, but they can trust me exactly because they know they don't have to.
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.