Re: Linus Geek of the Week

["Nathan Meyers-2" <user=8@nabble.blu.org>]

 [hidden email] wrote: 
> I have mixed feelings about Linus. When all is said and done, the first 
> version of Linux wasn't so hot. It took a lot of people a lot of work and 
> a lot of time to make it good. 
> 
> Also, where some people see that he has been a great administrator and 
> guide for Linux, one could just point out there are a lot of people who 
> could have done the same thing, and there's more about random chance and 
> opportunity that this particular guy ended up doing it. 

Linus has shown excellent technical and administrative leadership. That 
doesn't take superhuman abilities, but it's not just luck either - he's 
earned the respect he gets. The first version of any piece of software 
isn't especially great; that the kernel has thrived and matured against 
considerable odds (notably, the dominance of Microsoft and the tendency 
toward splintering in the Unix community) is a testament to leadership 
as much as to all the smart people who helped make it happen. 

As for your observation about millionaires - I couldn't agree more. As 
with any boom, some are lucky and some are good. Unlike you, Mark, I 
don't put Linus in the "lucky" category. 

Nathan 

> 
> I built my first computer over 33 years ago. I had "popular" shareware 
> programs for Windows about 23 years ago. I helped the FSF move almost 2 
> decades ago. I've had mediocre developer friends go on to become 
> millionaires because they attended the "right" party. I've had friends who 
> were simply amazingly smart, still, like us all, after all these years, 
> working for a living and worried about the economy. 
> 
> Maybe I'm bitter, but I don't think so. I'm just old enough to have seen 
> that a lot of life is a crap-shoot and while preparedness and skills help 
> when you get opportunity, ground breaking opportunities don't always come 
> your way. They don't come because you are smart. They don't come because 
> only you could do it. They come because a number of unpredictable and 
> uncontrollable factors came into place at a particular time, and someone 
> who had no idea what was happening was able to run with it. 
> 
> All that being said, the "perfect storm" of AT&T closing off UNIX, GNU not 
> having or focusing on a kernel, MINIX being a toy, and a new public global 
> network becoming popular (the internet) could have produced  a far worse 
> figurehead. So, like so many before him, I think he was lucky to get there 
> and have the luxury of being able to pursue it, he has done a pretty good 
> job over the years. 
> 
> Anyone agree? Disagree? Think I'm an idiot? 
> 
> 
>> From: Jerry Feldman <[hidden email]> 
>> Subject: Linus Geek of the Week 
>> To: BLU Discussion List <[hidden email]> 
>> Message-ID: <20080720074848.7f70e6d2@gaf> 
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" 
>> 
>> A friend pointed me to this interview with Linus Torvalds. It is a 
>> pretty decent interview. 
>> http://www.simple-talk.com/content/article.aspx?article=532
> 
>