Topic: Mobility

Torvalds' Nexus One endorsement may be regretted

Summary: Google is trying to build a competitive ecosystem in Android, and Android is not the only Linux-based system in the mobile space. It's like saying which one of your children you like best.

By Dana Blankenhorn for Linux and Open Source | February 8, 2010 -- 06:10 GMT (22:10 PST)

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Linus Torvalds is not Bill Gates.

He's a programmer, and an honest man. So when he finds something he likes he says so, without artifice, and that's all it means.

I hope people will understand that following Torvalds' blog post extolling the Google Nexus One.

Apparently Linus has the same problem my son does (along with millions of other people). Directions are not his strong suit. So for him, Google navigation was a killer app.

Trouble is, in many ways Linus Torvalds is not "just a programmer." He's a brand name. He is, however reluctantly, a celebrity. So a simple blog post can read like an endorsement.

Put it this way. If Steve Ballmer picked one of the many Windows Mobile phones and said, "this is the one I like," other makers of Windows Mobile phones might be upset. So he doesn't.

Linus just did.

Google is trying to build a competitive ecosystem in Android, and Android is not the only Linux-based system in the mobile space. It's like saying which one of your children you like best.

If you want to go the full paranoid on this one, you could even call Linus unpatriotic. After all, Motorola has staked its future on Android, and here he is making nice with a device from HTC, a Chinese company! (I know. Motorola has had its stuff made in China for years.)

This is as crazy as Jay Leno appearing in an ad for David Letterman's TV show. It's inconceivable! (I don't think the word means what you think it does.)

Topics: Mobility, Browser, Google, Hardware, Mobile OS, Operating Systems, Software, Software Development, Windows

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54 comments

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My Grandfather never took sides

He told me I was his favorite youngest grandson.

P.S.
There is a typo on the Blogs header for the inset (right side) to your article: "Nexis" should be Nexus".

D.T.Schmitz
8 February, 2010 06:33

Reply Vote
Doesn't matter.

Here is why. While Linux as a whole is largely built on the core of the coding that Linus Torvalds developed, Torvalds really has no stake in it. Your comparison of Torvalds with Balmer or Gates, is inaccurate.

A better comparison would Balmer for MS and Larry Page for Google. Android OS is Google's baby, not Torvalds, and therefore Torvalds can publicly have an opinion.

Snooki_smoosh_smoosh
8 February, 2010 06:34

Reply Vote
- Microsoft doesn't ship WinMo phones either ...
 
 The comparison is actually very accurate:
 
 Microsoft doesn't design, manufacture, ship or operate carrier services for phones that use Windows Mobile. Microsoft builds the software and manufacturers & operators decide to use said OS on their devices ... or not.
 
 While Google also ship an OS that others install on their devices, Google also competes with those adopters by directly shipping their own supported device.
 
 de-void-21165590650301806002836337787023
 8 February, 2010 13:45
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Torvalds' Nexus One endorsement may be regretted
 
 After all, Motorola has staked its future on Android, and here he is making nice with a device from HTC, a Chinese company! (I know. Motorola has had its stuff made in China for years.)<a href="http://ipadbagblog.com/"> k</a>
 
 zakkiromi
 30 May, 2011 01:27
 
 Reply Vote
- RE: Torvalds' Nexus One endorsement may be regretted
 
 Google is trying to build a competitive ecosystem in Android, and Android is not the only Linux-based system in the mobile space. Its like saying which one of your children you like<a href="http://ipadbagblog.com/"> ipad bag blog</a><a href="http://www.sutudeg.org/"> sutudeg </a> <a href="http://wposfv.com/">education news</a> and<a href="http://www.pcloshwdb.com/"> pclos hwdb</a> best.<a href="http://www.sutudeg.org/"> l</a>
 
 edward polling
 6 June, 2011 21:14
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Torvalds' Nexus One endorsement may be regretted
 
 @edward polling The comparison is actually very accurate: Microsoft doesn't design, manufacture, ship or operate carrier services for phones that use Windows </a><a href="http://www.revivalymaske.com/">pembe maske</a> </a><a href="http://www.energybalancebileklik.com/">energy balance</a> </a><a href="http://www.oynaoyunu.com/">oyna oyunu</a> </a><a href="http://www.moliva.web.tr/">moliva</a> </a><a href="http://www.orjinkrem.net/">orjin krem</a> </a><a href="http://www.tutunesun.web.tr/">tutune son</a></a><a href="http://www.nanomatik.gen.tr/">nanomatik</a> </a><a href="http://www.complex41.net/">complex 41</a> </a><a href="http://www.fx15new.com/">new fx15</a> Mobile. Microsoft builds the software and manufacturers & operators decide to use said OS on their devices ... or not. While Google also ship an OS that others install on their devices, Google also competes with those adopters by directly shipping their own supported device.
 
 gaberdiye03
 21 June, 2011 09:46
 
 Reply Vote
RE: Torvalds' Nexus One endorsement may be regretted

Dana, you may make a lot of Taiwanese unhappy. HTC is actually a Taiwan-based company.

phantomathkg
8 February, 2010 06:45

Reply Vote
- lol... So True and a Visit Makes that Apparent! ;)
  
  Although Taiwan has many Chinese immigrants and refugees and citizens. It's like comparing America to England. Neither side likes to be mistaken for the other! :D
  
  When you visit Taiwan it's very evident that your NOT in China! lol
  
  Freedom has reigned over this Island Nation for longer than Communism has been in China!
  
  Yes I know they had Martial Law for much of that time, but it was not a restriction of freedom except for a curfew. ;)
  
  i2fun@...
  8 February, 2010 07:15
  
  Reply Vote
unpatriotic ?

>> If you want to go the full paranoid on this one, you could even call Linus unpatriotic.

How ? Finland citizens are not supposed to say they like a product that happened to be manufactured by a Chinese company ?

mKind
8 February, 2010 06:58

Reply Vote
- touche
  
  Another thing, quite a few people from Taiwan would be highly upset with author wrongly stating that HTC is a Chinese (i.e., Mainland China) company.
  
  nothingness
  8 February, 2010 08:20
  
  Reply Vote
Truth is Truth, Torvalds Only States What it is! :D

You said it yourself. Torvalds is an honest man, unlike the two Steve's (Dr Evil Steve Jobs & Professor Steve 'Monkey Nuts' Balmer). They both have only one child that's their own (thank God). So only one to choose from. Whether we like it or not, humans are human and we all have favorites and that whether we state it or not.

He didn't say he hates any of the Nexus One's competition and he's referring of course to the Open Source implementation of his Linux Kernel on Google's Nexus One (w/o restrictions from Corporate proprietary concerns). That doesn't mean he doesn't like the kernel (piece of himself) in all of the others.

But let's face it. All the others have adoptive parents that are in reality divorced from the full Open Source freedom and locked to hardware or service providers. Nexus is the first truly Open (unlocked) Linux Cell Phone!

Now tell me the truth.. if you were the creator of the the first Open Source Operating System, wouldn't you be partial to the child that hadn't been bastardized by Step Parents trying to control your child (Linux Kernel)? xD :D ..just saying the answer is pretty obvious and true to form, "Torvalds Can Not Tell a Lie"!!! lol

Gotta love a guy that tells it like it is!!!

i2fun@...
8 February, 2010 07:00

Reply Vote
Inconceivable!

I love that movie . . . lol.

John238
8 February, 2010 07:14

Reply Vote
RE: Torvalds' Nexus One endorsement may be regretted

Linus's comments don't make much sense. Well they make sense but there was a smarter way of doing it. Basically he wanted a GPS and a gaming system and not a phone. So instead he goes out and pays $529 for a phone, plus $100 a month for the next 2 years on a subscription just for a GPS system. GPS's can be had for $100 nowadays. That's it. A flat fee of $100, no ongoing subscriptions. The gaming system, he could have bought a PSP or DS Lite for his plane trips, again, both of these combined cost less than just the phone. Just like a linux user, always doing things the hard way.

Loverock Davidson
8 February, 2010 07:18

Reply Vote
- You're LOST and Nothing can Save YOU! lol :D
  
  Where in the world are you? Do you own a Nexus or any Android device? I do and I pay NO monthly GPS fee. Nor does anyone I know on any Android phone or iPhone for that matter.
  
  So I'd say you need to clear the RoCkS from your head, Loverock! lol
  
  I'm sure you have a WinMo phone that is worthless as either a phone, GPS or Game System! .....so you're trumped and where he is, there are 28 mobile service providers to choose from! ;)
  
  i2fun@...
  8 February, 2010 07:32
  
  Reply Vote
  - Try reading LD's post again.
    
    I think you're not getting what he meant.
    
    msalzberg
    8 February, 2010 07:43
    
    Reply Vote
    - I get what LD is doing! lol ...spreading mis-information for M$!
      
      Oh I get what he was alluding to. It's the same on all his posts. He's trying to put words in Torvald's mouth, because he hates Linux!
      
      Here's what Torvalds said:
      Linus Torvalds, the man behind the Linux operating system, got Google's Nexus One smart phone last week. His review? "It's a winner." "I no longer feel like I'm dragging a phone with me "just in case" I would need to get in touch with somebody - now I'm having a useful (and admittedly pretty good-looking) gadget instead," Torvald wrote on his personal blog Saturday. Not bad, coming from a geek who admits he "generally hates phones."
      
      He did have a Cell Phone btw, as do most people in the modern world in Norway or any other Scandinavian country or nation in the World. He hates them yes. But so do I! haha He's basically saying now he has all the devices he needs in one and doesn't feel like he's dragging a phone around (like before) just in case! What's wrong with that? lol
      
      i2fun@...
      8 February, 2010 07:56
      
      Reply Vote
  - Reading comprehension
    
    You didn't understand a word of what I said. So instead of correcting you I'll just sit here so everyone else can have a laugh at your post as well.
    
    Loverock Davidson
    8 February, 2010 08:17
    
    Reply Vote
    - Sure
      
      Dream on Shleprock. In the real world it's the ignorant, biased an twisted BS you continue to spew forth everyday that everyone is shaking their head and laughing at!
      
      leupole
      8 February, 2010 09:15
      
      Reply Vote
      - Amen
        
        to that!
        
        JoshBrooks
        8 February, 2010 14:14
        
        Reply Vote
    - Dream on idiot
      
      Did you know that the dedicated GPS device market is dying? Have you wondered why?
      
      The Mentalist
      8 February, 2010 11:16
      
      Reply Vote