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Portrait of Linus Torvalds

Linus Torvalds

(1969) Programmer

233 quotes in 924 categories

Linus Torvalds jokes that documentation deserves to be laughed at, peed upon, and even set on fire. He says open source often makes software more stable and can outpace commercial products. He also warns against the ‘Not Invented Here’ syndrome and jokes about the perfect 12‑inch, 2‑pound laptop.

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Linus Torvalds is a programmer, best known for Just for fun.

Quick Facts About Linus Torvalds

Born: December 28, 1969
Profession: Programmer
Notable works: Just for fun

About Linus Torvalds

Since its first release, Torvalds has remained the lead developer of the Linux kernel, guiding its growth into a core part of many computers and devices worldwide.

Quotes by Linus Torvalds

“Do no harm”

Harm

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No problem is too big it can't be run away from

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Any program is only as good as it is useful.

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Those that can, do. Those that can't, complain.

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And what's the Internet without the rick-roll?

Internet

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I don't see myself as a visionary at all.

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Avoiding complexity reduces bugs.

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Talk is cheap. Show me the code.

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My name is Linus, and I am your God.

God

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Eventually the revolutionaries become the established culture, and then what will they do

Anarchy

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I claim that Mach people (and apparently FreeBSD) are incompetent idiots.

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If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won.

Linux

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In short: just say NO TO DRUGS, and maybe you won't end up like the Hurd people.

Drug

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Microsoft isn't evil, they just make really crappy operating systems.

Evil

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People will realize that software is not a product; you use it to build a product.

People

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

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Theory and practice sometimes clash. And when that happens, theory loses. Every single time.

Clash

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I obviously think that freely available software can not only keep up with the evolution of commercial software, but often exceed what…

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I'm interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn't started as any kind of rebellion against the 'evil Microsoft empire.'

Empires

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People enjoy the interaction on the Internet, and the feeling of belonging to a group that does something interesting: that's how some…

Belonging

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In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But when I'm talking to journalists I just say "programmer" or…

Communication

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I made very sure that I did not get involved with any of the commercial Linux companies, exactly so that I would…

Company

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The Linux philosophy is 'Laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong One. 'Do it yourself'. Yes, that's it.

Danger

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I don't actually follow other operating systems much. I don't compete - I just worry about making Linux better than itself, not…

Linux

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Once you start thinking more about where you want to be than about making the best product, you're screwed.

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I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up…

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You know, the mark of intelligence is realizing when you're making the same mistake over and over and over again, and not…

Clever

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Linux has more than satisfied any small initial expectations I had. It's simply incredible how successful Linux has been, and how good…

Challenges

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I can't say that I like MicroSoft: I think they make rather bad operating systems - Windows NT is just more of…

Care

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I actually don't believe that everybody should necessarily try to learn to code. I think it's reasonably specialized, and nobody really expects…

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Some people have told me they dont think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they…

Choice

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Other people have other goals, and sometimes the BSD style licenses are better for those goals. I personally tend to prefer the…

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Every once in a while an issue comes up where I have to make a statement. I can't totally avoid all political…

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I have an ego the size of a small planet

Ego

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Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.

Bugs

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I don't have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I'm doing.

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Non-technical questions sometimes don't have an answer at all.

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Today, I will offer free web hosting and developpement helps for projects under Sourceforge

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People who are doing things for fun do things the right way by themselves.

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If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it.

Computer

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Linus Torvalds by topic

Technology (109) Linux (59) People (52) Programming (37) Thinking (32) Software (17) Time (12) Operating systems (10) Open source (10)