Linus Torvalds interview on CNN

[Giles Orr]

On 5/19/06, Jamon Camisso <jamon.camisso-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> Got to hand it to Linus for being rather humble throughout, especially at
> the end.  [SNIP]  So many people in various development (distros,
> projects, etc.) could take a few lessons from Linus, perhaps step back
> and make their projects less about ego and more about their project.

Linus has always been amazing that way - he has opinions, including
some very strongly held ones (he has publicly stated that certain
products are crap and he doesn't want to work with them), but it never
seems to be about _him_.  I've always had a huge respect for him
because of this.

Stallman on the other hand ...  It's not about him, but it's sure as
hell about HIS project.  I think using the phrase "GNU/Linux" is
counterproductive: no one is going to say it in daily use (too long
when you can just say one or the other) so it becomes nothing but a
political statement, a burden.  I also think it's true that GNU, as
good as their products are, really wouldn't be widely known without
Linux.  Everybody on this mailing list knows that gcc, ls, find, tar,
and a hundred other utilities we use daily are courtesy of GNU.
Saying "GNU/Linux" is an uphill battle to explain to newbies that
someone other than Torvalds built a major part of the infrastructure.
THEY DON'T CARE!  When they learn enough about Linux, they'll figure
it out.  They don't need (or want) to know until then.

> What are people's thoughts on open source vs. free software? Can such a
> distinction exist?

I wanted to download Xen today.  The distinction is important to me
because Xen is "free," but apparently no longer entirely "open."  They
want an email address before they'll let me have it and that pisses me
off.  And yes, I want the right to modify it myself, even though I'll
hardly ever use it.  I also want the guarantee that later versions
will remain free (okay, the GPL doesn't totally guarantee that - but
if someone goes closed-source, someone else can fork from the previous
free codebase).  There are frequently hidden costs to
free-but-not-open software, the least of which is advertising spam in
your inbox.  You often have to click on a EULA for that free software
that states that the software company and/or the BSA has the right to
inventory your computer any time they want.  Don't snort and say
"they'd never do that!"  They pay lawyers thousands of dollars to
write those things, and they don't put any of that stuff in casually.

Am I sounding paranoid?  Think about what I said anyway - some of it
might be true.

-- 
Giles
http://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
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