(going OT) Re:Nobel Peace Prize to Linus Torvalds: A Northwest Nobel option?

[Evan Leibovitch]

2009/11/24 James Knott <james.knott-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org>



> Anyone who takes on religious delusion should be a candidate for the Nobel
> prize.  Religion is the cause of so much of the hatred and violence in this
> world and the sooner we're done with "God", the better.
>
>
That would suggest Bobby Henderson, creator of the Church of the Flying
Spaghetti Monster ... or maybe that guy Dawkins. But there's no way in hell
that will happen (sorry, couldn't be helped).

Suggesting Stallman for the Nobel is absolutely laughable, considering that
he thrives on confrontation and refusal to compromise. These are admirable
and useful qualities in some contexts, but certainly not related to anything
to do with a peace prize. It is notable that the FSF languished in
near-obscurity for its first decade -- having produced little more than
compilers, EMACS and clones of Unix utilities that had nearly no interest to
any but Sun and VAX admins and developers. Then Torvalds created not just a
kernel, but a communications and distribution ecosystem that was friendly to
developer and end-user alike. It was the social element, the meritocracy and
openness of the development process, the "release early and often" credo --
more than the mere quantity of code -- that made Linus' contribution
extraordinary.

But, really, neither Torvalds nor Stallman is right for the Nobel Peace
Prize.

My personal nominee? A tough call -- not much peaceful stuff happening in
2009 -- but I'd suggest Mir-Hossein Mousavi; we have yet to see the end of
what he started.

- Evan
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