[klug] [Fwd: Interview with Linus Torvalds]
Adrian Sanabria
klug@cs.utk.edu
Mon, 29 Sep 2003 14:26:42 -0400 (EDT)
A really good interview I am forwarding from the UTKLinux mailing list. My
favorite quote:
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.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Interview with Linus Torvalds
From: "Hodge, Chris" <chodge5@UTK.EDU>
Date: Mon, September 29, 2003 9:08 am
To: UTKLINUX@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
I thought some on the list might like to read this interview with
Torvalds that appeared in yesterday's New York Times. His answer to
controlling viruses is fairly novel: "make it a law that all [teenage]
geeks have dates."
The Sharer
September 28, 2003
By DAVID DIAMOND
Q: You gave Linux, the operating system, to the world free,
in effect jump-starting the open-source movement. Now this
previously obscure company, SCO Group, claims ownership of
some of the code and threatens to close the door on open
source and Linux. I suppose it's to be expected that when
you send your offspring out into the world, you have to be
prepared for your kid to run with a crowd you don't approve
of.
Oh, Linux has grown up, and it's running with a crowd that
I certainly never expected, like I.B.M. and
Hewlett-Packard. That's not the issue. SCO is claiming
parenthood of that child and now wants to make money off
the earnings of that child. Even though SCO has refused to
undergo the technical equivalent of DNA testing, and even
though my (and other people's) DNA is probably all over
Linux.
So does this issue matter to you personally?
I've tried to stay away from distractions. But especially
since they have started threatening to send invoices to
Linux users, it may eventually escalate to the point where
I have to start taking legal steps.
Is file-sharing, which has the recording industry so up in
arms, the ''dark side'' of open-source attitudes?
Sharing is certainly not bad in itself. In open source, we
feel strongly that to really do something well, you have to
get a lot of people involved. What the recording industry
is so worried about is obviously something totally
different -- the ''sharing'' of stuff that isn't yours to
share in the first place.
O.K. So what are your views on sharing music files?
I
don't actually think about it much; I listen to the radio
if I listen to music. What I do find interesting is how the
file-sharing thing ends up changing how people think about
computers and copyright law. Some of it is a bit scary:
just the fact that your question equated sharing with
something bad is a pretty scary statement in itself. What
also bothers me is the apparent dishonesty of especially
the R.I.A.A., claiming that file-sharing is destroying
their business and that they are losing billions of dollars
on it. There's been a number of studies done, and it looks
like the major reason for the dip in CD sales ends up being
lack of interest in the music produced. And let's face it
-- how many boy bands can you try to sell before your
revenues start dipping?
We've been getting hit with a lot of viruses and worms
lately. What's your idea for ending the attacks?
When you have people who hook up these machines that
weren't designed for the Internet, and they don't even want
to know about all the intricacies of network security, what
can you expect? We get what we have now: a system that can
be brought down by a teenager with too much time on his
hands. Should we blame the teenager? Sure, we can point the
finger at him and say, ''Bad boy!'' and slap him for it.
Will that actually fix anything? No. The next geeky kid
frustrated about not getting a date on Saturday night will
come along and do the same thing without really
understanding the consequences. So either we should make it
a law that all geeks have dates -- I'd have supported such
a law when I was a teenager -- or the blame is really on
the companies who sell and install the systems that are
quite that fragile.
Since you moved to Silicon Valley from Finland in 1997, how
has the region's aggressive approach to money-making
affected you?
Oh, how I hate that question. I've actually found the image
of Silicon Valley as a hotbed of money-grubbing tech people
to be pretty false, but maybe that's because the people I
hang out with are all really engineers. They came here
because this is where the action is. You go out for dinner,
and all the tables are filled with engineers talking about
things that won't be available to ''normal people'' for a
few years. If ever.
People position you as the nemesis to Bill Gates. He
started Microsoft and you started Linux, the big
competition to Microsoft's dominance of operating systems.
Is that an unfair or inaccurate characterization?
The thing is, at least to me personally, Microsoft just
isn't relevant to what I do. That might sound strange,
since they are clearly the dominant player in the market
that Linux is in, but the thing is: I'm not in the
''market.'' I'm interested in Linux because of the
technology, and Linux wasn't started as any kind of
rebellion against the ''evil Microsoft empire.'' Quite the
reverse, in fact: from a technology angle, Microsoft really
has been one of the least interesting companies. So I've
never seen it as a ''Linus versus Bill'' thing. I just
can't see myself in the position of the nemesis, since I
just don't care enough. 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.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/28/magazine/WLN104109.html?ex=1065839979&ei=1&en=1079377ccf8de3a0
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