“LINUX is obsolete.”

— Andrew S. Tanenbaum

In a Usenet message, 29 Jan 1992 http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/f447530d082cd95d.
The "Linux is Obsolete" Debate

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update May 22, 2020. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "LINUX is obsolete." by Andrew S. Tanenbaum?

Andrew S. Tanenbaum 22

Dutch computer scientist 1944

Related quotes

“If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never had happened.”

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

Attributed
Source: Mike Linksvayer's 1993 interview http://gondwanaland.com/meta/history/interview.html in the first issue of Meta Magazine http://gondwanaland.com/meta/history/

“Linux is not in the public domain. Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches. That's the way that the license works.”

Steve Ballmer (1956) American businessman who was the chief executive officer of Microsoft

" Microsoft CEO takes launch break with the Sun-Times https://web.archive.org/web/20011108013601/http://www.suntimes.com/output/tech/cst-fin-micro01.html" (1 June 2001) Chicago Sun Times
2000s

“I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.”

Richard Stallman (1953) American software freedom activist, short story writer and computer programmer, founder of the GNU project

Internet meme commonly attributed to Stallman made by an unknown source.
Misattributed

“I started Linux as a desktop operating system. And it's the only area where Linux hasn't completely taken over. That just annoys the hell out of me.”

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

2010s, Audience Q&A following interview panel at Aalto University Center, 2012

“People are always looking for the be-all-end-all super perfect Linux. It will never happen until Microsoft does Linux. Oops. Did I say that?”

John C. Dvorak (1952) US journalist and radio broadcaster

PC Magazine, "Inside Track", (26 June 2007), p. 1
2000s

“"Linux is a leprosy; …" This statement is not grammatically or factually correct.”

Andrew S. Tanenbaum (1944) Dutch computer scientist

Rebuttal to Ken Brown http://www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/brown/rebuttal/.
The "Linux is Obsolete" Debate

“The institution of marriage is obsolete”

Jane Fonda (1937) American actress and activist

Jane Would Have Been a Star Even as a Smith. Associated Press/Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 30 June 1963 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=230eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OcoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3114,5294465&dq=the-institution-of-marriage-is-obsolete+fonda&hl=en

“Linux is only free if your time has no value.”

Jamie Zawinski (1968) American programmer

In an interview http://www.jwz.org/doc/linux.html in June 1998; he later claimed that "Bits and pieces of this article have been quoted out of context in lots of places"

“I must say the Linux community is a lot nicer than the Unix community. A negative comment on Unix would warrant death threats. With Linux, it is like stirring up a nest of butterflies.”

Ken Thompson (1943) American computer scientist, creator of the Unix operating system

"Ken Thompson clarifies matters", 1999

“I think the open software movement (and Linux in particular) is laudable.”

Ken Thompson (1943) American computer scientist, creator of the Unix operating system

"Ken Thompson clarifies matters", 1999