“See, you not only have to be a good coder to create a system like Linux, you have to be a sneaky bastard too;-)”

Post, comp.os.linux.development.system newsgroup, Google Groups, 1996-07-05, Torvalds, Linus, 2016-05-25 https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.os.linux.development.system/EG3iv5IcC3Y/6d_v3HZUZLYJ,
1990s, 1995-99

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 "See, you not only have to be a good coder to create a system like Linux, you have to be a sneaky bastard too;-)" by Linus Torvalds?
Linus Torvalds photo
Linus Torvalds 150
Finnish-American software engineer and hacker 1969

Related quotes

Harold Nicolson photo

“To be a good diarist, one must have a little snouty, sneaky mind.”

Harold Nicolson (1886–1968) British diplomat, author, diarist and politician

Diary, 9 Nov 1947

Richard Stallman photo

“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

Lemmy Kilmister photo
Linus Torvalds photo

“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

Julia Child photo

“To be a good cook you have to have a love of the good, a love of hard work, and a love of creating.”

Julia Child (1921–2004) American chef

Source: Particular Passions: Talks With Women Who Have Shaped Our Times

Julian Assange photo

“We all only live once. So we are obligated to make good use of the time that we have and to do something that is meaningful and satisfying. This is something that I find meaningful and satisfying. That is my temperament. I enjoy creating systems on a grand scale, and I enjoy helping people who are vulnerable. And I enjoy crushing bastards.”

Julian Assange (1971) Australian editor, activist, publisher and journalist

[‘WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange on the 'War Logs', Spiegel.de, 2010-07-26, 2010-08-03, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708518,00.html]

Charles Bukowski photo
Jonas Salk photo

“What you see in living systems, and in genetic systems, is that the genes are already there, having arisen in the course of time, and when they are needed they become activated. If they had to be invented, the time would be too late.”

Jonas Salk (1914–1995) Inventor of polio vaccine

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Context: What you see in living systems, and in genetic systems, is that the genes are already there, having arisen in the course of time, and when they are needed they become activated. If they had to be invented, the time would be too late. By the same token, I think that the people who are needed to help guide the future already exist. They simply need to recognize this in themselves, react to the opportunities that prevail, and also be valued and be encouraged. It's that very large, and as yet amorphous, rung that is of interest to me. I hope to articulate this, and see to what extent it makes sense to others as well.

“Man, it was a good thing he fought like a nasty bastard or he might have been taken for a nancy.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Awakened

Linus Torvalds photo

Related topics