Linus Torvalds Quotes

If you like using CVS, you should be in some kind of mental institution or somewhere else.

The economics of the security world are all horribly, horribly nasty and are largely based on fear, intimidation and blackmail.

I don't have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I'm doing.

In my opinion MS is a lot better at making money than it is at making good operating systems.

Non-technical questions sometimes don't have an answer at all.

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.

I am not out to destroy Microsoft, that would be a completely unintended side effect.

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.

On the internet nobody can hear you being subtle.

In short: just say NO TO DRUGS, and maybe you won't end up like the Hurd people.

Whoever came up with "hold the shift key for eight seconds to turn on 'your keyboard is buggered' mode" should be shot.

In real open source, you have the right to control your own destiny.

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 don't think I'm unusual in preferring my laptop to be thin and light.

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.

An infinite number of monkeys typing into GNU emacs would never make a good program.

Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.

I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up.

Fairly cheap home computing was what changed my life.

No-one has ever called me a cool dude. I'm somewhere between geek and normal.

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.

If it is relevant there is always somebody else out there.

I'd argue that everybody wants to do something that matters

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.

Those that can, do. Those that can't, complain.

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.'

Eventually the revolutionaries become the established culture, and then what will they do

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'm generally a very pragmatic person: that which works, works.

Any program is only as good as it is useful.

If you start doing things because you hate others and want to screw them over, the end result is bad.

I think one thing I do pretty well is not taking myself too seriously.

My name is Linus, and I am your God.

I spend a lot more time than any person should have to talking with lawyers and thinking about intellectual property issues.

I'm basically a very lazy person who likes to get credit for things other people actually do.

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.

Developers have the attention spans of slightly moronic woodland creatures.

I think of myself as an engineer, not as a visionary or 'big thinker.' I don't have any lofty goals.

I've been employed by the University of Helsinki, and they've been perfectly happy to keep me employed and doing Linux.

I've been very happy with the commercial Linux CD-ROM vendors linux Red Hat.

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.

I don't see myself as a visionary at all.

Today, I will offer free web hosting and developpement helps for
projects under Sourceforge

Helsinki isn't all that bad. It's a very nice city, and it's cold really only in wintertime.

People will realize that software is not a product; you use it to build a product,

We all know Linux is great ... it does infinite loops in 5 seconds.

The memory management on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children.

I want my office to be quiet. The loudest thing in the room - by far - should be the occasional purring of the cat.

A computer is like air conditioning - it becomes useless when you open Windows

Making Linux GPL'd was definitely the best thing I ever did.

Shareware tends to combine the worst of commercial software with the worst of free software.

Bad programmers worry about the code. Good programmers worry about data structures and their relationships.

Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done.

No problem is too big it can't be run away from

I have an ego the size of a small planet

Only religious fanatics and totalitarian states equate morality with legality.

I do get my pizzas paid for by Linux indirectly.

Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it.

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.

That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle.

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.

I'm a technical manager, but I don't have to take care of people. I only have to worry about technology itself.

Finnish companies tend to be very traditional, not taking many risks. Silicon Valley is completely different: people here really live on the edge.

I think, fundamentally, open source does tend to be more stable software. It's the right way to do things.

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.

And what's the Internet without the rick-roll?

Don't hurry your code. Make sure it works well and is well designed. Don't worry about timing.

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.

I claim that Mach people (and apparently FreeBSD) are incompetent idiots.

I like to think that I've been a good manager. That fact has been very instrumental in making Linux a successful product.

Portability is for people who cannot write new programs

The NIH syndrome (Not Invented Here) is a disease.

I'm interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn't started as any kind of rebellion against the 'evil Microsoft empire.'

Theory and practice sometimes clash. And when that happens, theory loses. Every single time.

It was such a relief to program in user mode for a change. Not having to care about the small stuff is wonderful.

Me trying to make a business around Linux would have been a total disaster.

Only wimps use tape backup. REAL men just upload their important stuff on ftp and let the rest of the world mirror it.

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.

I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.

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 love making friends ... it's people I can't stand.

I very seldom worry about other systems. I concentrate pretty fully on just making Linux the best I can.

If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won.

You won't get sued for anticompetitive behavior.

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 don't expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.

I may make jokes about Microsoft at times, but at the same time, I think the Microsoft hatred is a disease.

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.

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.

Microsoft isn't evil, they just make really crappy operating systems.

I see myself as a technical person who chose a great project and a great way of doing that project.

OK, I admit it. I was just a front-man for the real fathers of Linux, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.

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.