“Why don't we write code that just works? Or absent a "just works" set of patches, why don't we revert to code that has years of testing? This kind of "I broke things, so now I will jiggle things randomly until they unbreak" is not acceptable. […] Don't just make random changes. There really are only two acceptable models of development: "think and analyze" or "years and years of testing on thousands of machines."”

— Linus Torvalds

Those two really do work. <br class="br"> Torvalds, Linus, 2011-04-13, Linux 2.6.39-rc3, 2011-04-21 http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/1126136, <br class="br">2010s, 2011

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Why don't we write code that just works? Or absent a "just works" set of patches, why don't we revert to code that has …" by Linus Torvalds?

Linus Torvalds150

Finnish-American software engineer and hacker 1969

Related quotes

“To undress is the dress code these days and I didn't start it. We are all voyeurs, so why the complaints? Until girls don't walk in a swimsuit on the stage they don't get the crown so why is everyone so holier-than-thou?”

Mallika Sherawat (1976) Indian actress

[The Babe with Balls, http://www.binabakshi.com/journalism.htm, Bina Bakshi, May 2004]

“I really don't like programming. I built this tool to program less so that I could just reuse code.”

Rasmus Lerdorf (1968) Danish programmer and creator of PHP

Itconversations.com http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail58.html

“Why don't they just accept that life is sad and cheer up it's not forever.”

Jeremy Hardy (1961–2019) British comedian

The News Quiz, BBC Radio 4, June 2008

“We often just accept the things that we like and complain a lot about the things that we don't like. But if we could, like, intensely dwell on the really great things in life the way we intensely dwell on the negative things in life. I think that would be fantastic.”

Hank Green (1980) American vlogger

A Few Of My Favorite Things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBWH4eMiklU <br class="br">Youtube

“I'm sorry, 'herbal medicine', "Oh, herbal medicine's been around for thousands of years!" Indeed it has, and then we tested it all, and the stuff that worked became 'medicine'. And the rest of it is just a nice bowl of soup and some potpourri, so knock yourselves out.”

Dara Ó Briain (1972) Irish comedian and television presenter

Dara Ó Briain Talks Funny: Live in London (2008)

“I see myself as a novelist, period. I mean, the material I work with is what is classified as science fiction and fantasy, and I really don't think about these things when I'm writing. I'm just thinking about telling a story and developing my characters.”

Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) American speculative fiction writer

"A Conversation With Roger Zelazny" (8 April 1978), talking with Terry Dowling and Keith Curtis in Science Fiction Vol. 1, #2 (June 1978)

“Treat gain and loss the same.' Don't be Intimidated. Don't make a Big Deal of anything - just accept things as they come to you.”

Benjamin Hoff The Te of Piglet

Source: The Te of Piglet

“I don't know if you've ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for thousands of years. Or just not exist..”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“I don't ask for money. I don't ask for sexual favors. I don't ask for access to the hardware you design and sell. I just ask for the thing I gave you: source code that I can use myself.”

Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker

Message to Linux kernel mailing list, 2007-06-14, Torvalds, Linus, 2010-02-01 http://groups.google.com/group/linux.kernel/msg/29b45885cc7b11b3, <br class="br">2000s, 2007

“Ideas must be put to the test. That's why we make things, otherwise they would be no more than ideas. There is often a huge difference between an idea and its realisation. I've had what I thought were great ideas that just didn't work.”

Andy Goldsworthy (1956) British sculptor and photographer

Interview with Conrad Bodman, curator at the Barbican Arts Centre (2001)
Context: Ideas must be put to the test. That's why we make things, otherwise they would be no more than ideas. There is often a huge difference between an idea and its realisation. I've had what I thought were great ideas that just didn't work. Sometimes it's difficult to say if something has worked or not. Photography is a way of putting distance between myself and the work which sometimes helps me to see more clearly what it is that I have made.

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Linus Torvalds150

Related quotes

Related topics