Linus Torvalds Quotes on Linux

16 quotes

  1. I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.

  2. The main reason there are no raw devices [in Linux] is that I personally think that raw devices are a stupid idea.

  3. :the Linux philosophy is 'laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong one. 'Do it yourself'. That's it.

  4. 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*'.

  5. Modern PCs are horrible. ACPI is a complete design disaster in every way. But we're kind of stuck with it. If any Intel people are listening to this and you had anything to do with ACPI, shoot yourself now, before you reproduce.

  6. A lot of people still like Solaris, but I'm in active competition with them, and so I hope they die.

  7. 2.6.<odd>: still a stable kernel, but accept bigger changes leading up to it (timeframe: a month or two). 2.<odd>.x: aim for big changes that may destabilize the kernel for several releases (timeframe: a year or two) <odd>.x.x: Linus went crazy, broke absolutely _everything_, and rewrote the kernel to be a microkernel using a special message-passing version of Visual Basic. (timeframe: 'we expect that he will be released from the mental institution in a decade or two').

  8. I'd like to say that I knew this would happen, that it's all part of the plan for world domination.

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

  10. I personally just encourage people to switch to KDE. This 'users are idiots, and are confused by functionality' mentality of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it. I don't use Gnome, because in striving to be simple, it has long since reached the point where it simply doesn't do what I need it to do. Please, just tell people to use KDE.

  11. It's one of those rare 'perfect' kernels. So if it doesn't happen to compile with your config (or it does compile, but then does unspeakable acts of perversion with your pet dachshund), you can rest easy knowing that it's all your own damn fault, and you should just fix your evil ways.

  12. It's a bird.. It's a plane.. No, it's KernelMan, faster than a speeding bullet, to your rescue. Doing new kernel versions in under 5 seconds flat.. (Linus, in the announcement for 1.3.27)

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

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

  15. The only limiting factor of the Linux operating system, is his user.

  16. Now, most of you are probably going to be totally bored out of your minds on Christmas day, and here's the perfect distraction. Test 2.6.15-rc7. All the stores will be closed, and there's really nothing better to do in between meals.

All Linus Torvalds quotes