Could you do Linus "Linux" Torvalds job?
Summary: Well, could you? This amusing Facebook quiz from The Linux Foundation gives you a chance to see if you could fill Torvalds' shoes.
S
o you think you're a Linux expert do you? You scored big-time on my two recent Linux quizzes: Are you a Linux guru? and Return of the Linux Quiz and you think you're ready for the big time. Well, does The Linux Foundation have a quiz for you!
The Facebook quiz "Could you do Linus Toravlds' job?" asks the hypothetical question that were Linus to take on another job---I understand Microsoft could use a new CEO no matter what Ballmer may say—could you fill Torvalds' shoes?
The five-question quiz will give you a Facebook badge you can share on your Facebook wall to show off your Linus and Linux know-how. Of more concrete importance, just playing the quiz will give you 25% off your LinuxCon membership.
At $500 US through July 8th and $600 thereafter, that's a nice discount. Student Registration is $100. Student attendees will be required to show a valid student id at registration. LinuxCon will be held in Vancouver, B.C. on August 17-19, 2011 It will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Linux. Besides a host of far more important Linux and open-source movers and shakers, I'll be speaking at the conference as well.
Oh, and by the by, according to the quiz, I'm a Linus in waiting.
Related Stories:
Linux's 20th Birthday Party: LinuxCon
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Talkback
Why would I want it?
Torvolds seems to be that excellent politician that I'm not, so let him have the job. Better him than me.
For those of you that think me a fool, read the old book, the Peter Principle and then wonder if you took the final promotion -
RE: Could you do Linus
Come on, how hard is it to steal someone else's IP, right?
Linux is full of it, so no, it really sounds like an easy job.
I know, I wasn't supposed to remind people of that, but if SJVN won't, who will??
What do you have to offer?
The principle idea of such arguments suggest that we should lock every single scientist behind closed doors, cut their lines of communications, as a means to prevent them from influencing other and hence elevate knowledge faster. It looks like software is the exception from sane scientific methods.
As a response to your allegations the uncomfortable truth is that all existing system contains similar ideas and concepts. No exclusion. The simple fact is that humans are quite similar in their ways of doing and solving things. It's life as it's supposed to be. Some prefer to break such natural processes by licensing intellectual property; the ones who do wouldn't exist today if they hadn't gained knowledge by those intellectuals who didn't work lock out others from taking advantage of their knowledge. Proof of this is the inability to present factual IP cases. Too many are settled outside court because one party has less financial backing, and hence such cases denies us the opportunity to scrutinise allegations about IP theft.
As long as Microsoft, Apple and others honour licenses that prevent code from being hidden away, they're welcome to take whatever they want from the ones they accuse of theft. They seldom do, because they don't really like the scientific idea of shared knowledge.
The only real IP theft is stupidity, but that's another even more sad subject.
There's No Such Thing As "IP." Be Specific.
The entire term "intellectual property" is inappropriate, misleading, and vague. If instead, the term "intellectual rights" had been coined, it would be much less inappropriate and misleading, but it would still be vague.
In law there exist copyright, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets (although trade secrets are only protected by contract law). If you want to say that Linux violates one of these things, then be specific about it and point out how. Otherwise it's just a bunch of hot air.
RE: Could you do Linus
No it is not just misleading.
It is an outright lie !
The rights in question is actually privileges giving by society.
It seems more and more necessary to put and end to this lie by temporarily suspend all such privileges.
You know: When lies are told over and over again it never has any ethical reason.
Telling the same lies over and over again was successfully used by the nazi "propagandaministerium".
RE: Could you do Linus
RE: Could you do Linus
yeah MS have been doing it for years and charging exorbitant fees for half baked insecure software.
And been quite successful commercially as well
More than Linux can say, even Android is questionable in the commercial realm. Successful for the vendors but no one understands Google's business model.
In the end it's more successful for MS because MS charges for every copy of Android sold for that mythical IP they own. It may be hot air, but profitable hot air!
By the way, what is Google's profit model for Android. In the recent court proceedings they claim it's not revenue derived from search fees, so what is it?
RE: Could you do Linus
Isn't imitation the finest form of flattery? NeXT (prior to their acquisition by Apple) borrowed heavily from Mach which was developed at Carnegie-Mellon. And Apple Mac OS X borrowed heavily from both NeXT (via the acquisition) and FreeBSD.
What does this say about iOS's lineage?
And Microsoft borrowed heavily from DEC VMS to create Windows NT. They even hired Dave Cutler and other engineers from DEC to help them do it. In addition, Microsoft hired one of the Mach leaders from Carnegie-Mellon (NeXT got the other one, see above).
P.S. Love your trolling style. Understated.
Anyone who knows how to cut and paste
RE: Could you do Linus
That is what I call an outright lie.
OK, three claiming Linux is a cut and paste job and no rebuttals?
RE: Could you do Linus
Why write a response to the children above. Not one of them can backup what they wrote. They copy each other, shows they can not think for themselves.
Hooah!
RE: Could you do Linus
Perhaps the issue is that Linux is well known to have IP issues, proving their points. Besides, what new, inventive product ever came out of Open Source? What Open Source product wasn't an original concept by business first?
RE: Could you do Linus
What known IP issues, please provided some sustenance to that comment
Everything that comes from Open Source is inventive.
RE: Could you do Linus
RE: Could you do Linus
How about that question about the original ideas from Open Source. Just haven't seen any of those, so one must note that if Open Source only copies, there will be IP problems. Note Google's current legal situation.
So, how about giving me that long list of original ideas from the Open Source community? Funny that I've asked that question many times and never seen an idea that didn't come from the business community first. Open Source was always second. Perhaps a good product, but never original.
Most TCP/IP Code Was Open Source First
Most TCP/IP code was originally open source. DNS servers, for instance are generally based on open source code. That's one example off the top of my head.
You could basically issue the same challenge about any software company and be hard pressed to come up with much of anything original about their work.
What has Microsoft released that they did not copy conceptually or buy?
AltairBASIC - copied
MS-DOS - bought
Windows - copied
Excel - bought from someone who copied
Word - copied
Access - copied
Internet Explorer - copied
etc.,
etc.
Oh, you could come up with some corner cases for small improvements and such, but the same is true of open source software. Software tends not to be big, innovative inventions, but rather, small, incremental improvements. Lots of new software ideas are rooted in university research, and that is just as likely to be open source as not.
TCP/IP wasn't Open Source to start
It was military, you remember Arpnet back in the 60's? Funded by the military so hardly qualifies as Open Source since Open Source didn't even exist yet. By the way, that list of applications were all developed commercially before Open Source was invented.
At least quit harping on MS and do some research.
Still didn't see any original ideas come from Open Source. Greatest copy artists on the planet. Nothing original, just copies of earlier ideas.
Probably Not.