Linus Torvalds: Doing

“Obsessing about things is important, and things really do matter, but if you can't let go of them, you'll end up crazy.”

Linus Torvalds

Linus Torvalds - Slashdot Interview, Torvalds, Linus, 2012-10-11, 2012-10-11 http://meta.slashdot.org/story/12/10/11/0030249/linus-torvalds-answers-your-questions,
2010s, 2012

“(In answer to the question: In the extreme case, if it was just you doing all the code, and the rest of the world quietly used it, would it make sense to give it away free? Unless you're particularly grateful for other free things you've got off the Net, would the answer be No?":)

I don't necessarily think so. It might be true in certain niche areas, but almost any project will give a developer that "feel good" feeling when he has users and he feels he is doing something worthwhile. I really don't think you need all that much "quid pro quo" in programming - most of the good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program.”

Linus Torvalds

First Monday Interview with Linus Torvalds: What motivates free software developers?, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, interviewer, 1998‐03-02, 2013-06-02 http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/583/504,
1990s, 1995-99

World , Feeling , Question , Thinking

“Note that nobody reads every post in linux-kernel. In fact, nobody who expects to have time left over to actually do any real kernel work will read even half. Except Alan Cox, but he's actually not human, but about a thousand gnomes working in under-ground caves in Swansea. None of the individual gnomes read all the postings either, they just work together really well.”

Linus Torvalds

Post, Linux kernel mailing list, 2000-05-02, Google Groups, Torvalds, Linus, 2006-08-28 https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fa.linux.kernel/iQtWFALi4JA/eSzv64_tOvoJ,
2000s, 2000-04

Time , Reading

“I'm a bastard. I have absolutely no clue why people can ever think otherwise. Yet they do. People think I'm a nice guy, and the fact is that I'm a scheming, conniving bastard who doesn't care for any hurt feelings or lost hours of work, if it just results in what I consider to be a better system. And I'm not just saying that. I'm really not a very nice person. I can say "I don't care" with a straight face, and really mean it.”

Linus Torvalds

Message to linux-kernel mailing list, 2000-09-06, Torvalds, Linus, 2007-05-28 http://lkml.org/lkml/2000/9/6/65,
2000s, 2000-04

People , Guy , Feeling , Thinking

“If you have ever done any security work – and it did not involve the concept of "network of trust" – it wasn't security work, it was – masturbation. I don't know what you were doing. But trust me, it's the only way you can do security, it's the only way you can do development.”

Linus Torvalds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XpnKHJAok8
Tech Talk: Linus Torvalds on git
YouTube
Google
27min44
2007.
2000s, 2007

Way

“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.”

Linus Torvalds

Linus & the Lunatics, Part II, 2003-11-25, 2006-08-28 http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7279,
2000s, 2000-04

People , Way

“The fact is, the people who have created open source and made it a success have been the developers doing work - and the companies that we could get involved by showing that we are not all insane crazy people like the FSF. The people who have *destroyed* projects have been lawyers that claimed to be out to "save" those projects.”

Linus Torvalds

https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/ksummit-discuss/2016-August/003580.html
2010s, 2017

People , Success

“It has nothing to do with dinosaurs. Good taste doesn't go out of style”

Linus Torvalds

About the C programming language, vs. C++
Re: RFC Convert builin-mailinfo.c to use The Better String Library., 7 Sep 2007, gmane.comp.version-control.git, 12 Sep 2012 http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/57957,
2000s, 2007

“Your problem has nothing to do with git, and everything to do with emacs. And then you have the gall to talk about "Unix design" and not gumming programs together, when you yourself use the most gummed-up piece of absolute sh*t there is!”

Linus Torvalds

Message, Git mailing list, 2008-12-17, Gmane, Torvalds, Linus, 2008-12-18 http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/103400,
2000s, 2008

Problem

“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 Torvalds

Announcement for Linux 1.3.27, 1995-11-14, Torvalds, Linus, 2017-04-25 http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/alpha/9509.1/0006.html,
1990s, 1995-99

Bird , Speed

“Guess what? Wheels have been round for a really long time, and anybody who "reinvents" the new wheel is generally considered a crackpot. It turns out that "round" is simply a good form for a wheel to have. It may be boring, but it just tends to roll better than a square, and "hipness" has nothing what-so-ever to do with it.”

Linus Torvalds

Attributed
Source: on Desktop_architects: Drivers – below the OS, Fri Aug 3 18:12:57 PDT 2007 https://lists.linux-foundation.org/pipermail/desktop_architects/2007-August/002446.html.

Time

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

Linus Torvalds

Post the Linux Kernel Mailing List, 2003-09-23, Torvalds, Linus, 2007-06-26, http://web.archive.org/20050226095919/kerneltrap.org/node/901, 2005-02-26 http://kerneltrap.org/node/901,
Torvalds did not originate this quote http://shlomif.livejournal.com/39215.html, and there are earlier records for it. This is a variation on "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches," which is also attributed to George Bernard Shaw.
2000s, 2000-04

“I am a lazy person, which is why I like open source, for other people to do work for me.”

Linus Torvalds

Torvalds, Linus, 2015-01-15, <nowiki>Linus Torvalds on why he isn’t nice: "I don’t care about you"</nowiki>, 2015-01-20 http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/linus-torvalds-on-why-he-isnt-nice-i-dont-care-about-you/,
2010s, 2015

People , Personality

“The desktop hasn't really taken over the world like Linux has in many other areas, but just looking at my own use, my desktop looks so much better than I ever could have imagined. Despite the fact that I'm known for sometimes not being very polite to some of the desktop UI people, because I want to get my work done. Pretty is not my primary thing. I actually am very happy with the Linux desktop, and I started the project for my own needs, and my needs are very much fulfilled. That's why, to me, it's not a failure. I would obviously love for Linux to take over that world too, but it turns out it's a really hard area to enter. I'm still working on it. It's been 25 years. I can do this for another 25. I'll wear them down.”

Linus Torvalds

Torvalds, Linus, 2016-04-07, <nowiki>Linus Torvalds still wants Linux to take over the desktop</nowiki>, 2016-04-07 http://www.cio.com/article/3053507/linux/linus-torvalds-still-wants-linux-to-take-over-the-desktop.html,
2010s, 2016

Love , People , World , Imagination

“First off, I'm actually perfectly well off. I live in a good-sized house, with a nice yard, with deer occasionally showing up and eating the roses (my wife likes the roses more, I like the deer more, so we don't really mind). I've got three kids, and I know I can pay for their education. What more do I need? The thing is, being a good programmer actually pays pretty well; being acknowledged as being world-class pays even better. I simply didn't need to start a commercial company. And it's just about the least interesting thing I can even imagine. I absolutely hate paperwork. I couldn't take care of employees if I tried. A company that I started would never have succeeded – it's simply not what I'm interested in! So instead, I have a very good life, doing something that I think is really interesting, and something that I think actually matters for people, not just me. And that makes me feel good.”

Linus Torvalds

-- 8/15/07 -- http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/TechGovernment/News.asp?id=44682&PageMem=2 --
Attributed

Life , Hate , People , World

“I've actually felt slightly uncomfortable at TED for the last two days, because there's a lot of vision going on, right? And I am not a visionary. I do not have a five-year plan. I'm an engineer. And I think it's really -- I mean -- I'm perfectly happy with all the people who are walking around and just staring at the clouds and looking at the stars and saying, "I want to go there." But I'm looking at the ground, and I want to fix the pothole that's right in front of me before I fall in. This is the kind of person I am.”

Linus Torvalds

2010s, 2016

People , Star , Thinking , Personality

“So I would not be surprised if the globbing libraries, for example, will do NFD-mangling in order to glob "correctly", so even programs ported from real Unix might end up getting pathnames subtly changed into NFD as part of some hot library-on-library action with UTF hackery inside.”

Linus Torvalds

-- Wed, 23 Jan 2008 -- http://web.archive.org/20080213164251/kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/git/2008/1/23/595619
Attributed

Change , Parting

“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.”

Linus Torvalds

Attributed
Source: LKML 2005.12.24 http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/12/24/92

Christmas , Perfection

“… the Linux philosophy is "laugh in the face of danger". Oops. Wrong one. "Do it yourself."”

Linus Torvalds

That's it.
Post, linux.dev.kernel newsgroup, Google Groups, 1996-10-16, Torvalds, Linus, 2006-08-28 http://groups.google.com/groups?&selm=Pine.LNX.3.91.961016155929.27735D-100000%40linux.cs.Helsinki.FI,
1990s, 1995-99

“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.”

Linus Torvalds

Message to usability@gnome.org mailing list, 2005-12-12, 2006-08-28, Torvalds, Linus http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2005-December/msg00021.html,
2000s, 2005

People , Disease , Thinking , Personality