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AUGUST 18, 2004
Linus Torvalds' Benevolent Dictatorship The creator of Linux says "I can't be nasty" when leading the open-source movement since it's all built on trust and teamwork Linus Torvalds created the first iteration of the Linux operating system 13 years ago. Since then, he has been the technical shepherd coordinating the volunteer work of more than 1,000 people who actively contribute code and ideas to the Linux kernel -- the core program. He's also the symbolic leader of a movement made up hundreds of companies that are involved in Linux development, in addition to the thousands of volunteers. That has helped Linux become the No. 2 operating system worldwide for server computers. Torvalds recently spoke with BusinessWeek Senior Writer Steve Hamm. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation: Q: What are the biggest challenges facing Linux? A: From a technical standpoint, I don't see any real challenges. Linux has come a long way in the last 13 years. I'll do another 13 years if that's what it takes. Technology wise, we're great. And we'll get better. The only things I worry about are all the things that go around the project. Part of it is legal issues. It's not that I think Linux has legal problems, but that the system doesn't work as well as it should, and crazy things happen, like the SCO suits [SCO (SCOX ) claims IBM (IBM ) breached a longtime contract by providing SCO-owned technology to Linux developers and has filed a lawsuit claiming $5 billion in damages. The trial isn't expected to start until November, 2005]. They will get slapped down in court. But as Linux gets really important, strange things come up. Software patents concern me. I worry about some greedy companies -- possibly failing ones, trying to make trouble and abusing the system. Software patents, in particular, are very ripe for abuse. The whole system encourages big corporations getting thousands and thousands of patents. Individuals almost never get them. We have random people in random countries working on random things, and they don't have 1,000 patent lawyers. So I'm not worried about one patent in particular, but the whole system. It's not a problem today. But it's a thing I can't control, unlike the technical side, where I can actually do something. I'm not that concerned about the threat of Microsoft (MSFT ) enforcing patents against Linux. I think their mode of operation isn't through the legal system. I think they hate lawyers more than most companies. They've been on the receiving end. [CEO Steve] Ballmer and [Chairman Bill] Gates have pride in the fact that their competition may have tried to crush them with legal wars, but they overcame. I think they would have a hard time using legal tactics. They would be ashamed. Q: What makes you believe Linux will continue to gain momentum? A: I think, fundamentally, open source does tend to be more stable software. It's the right way to do things. I compare it to science vs. witchcraft. In science, the whole system builds on people looking at other people's results and building on top of them. In witchcraft, somebody had a small secret and guarded it -- but never allowed others to really understand it and build on it. Traditional software is like witchcraft. In history, witchcraft just died out. The same will happen in software. When problems get serious enough, you can't have one person or one company guarding their secrets. You have to have everybody share in knowledge. Q: Some say Linux and a lot of open-source projects really aren't innovative, that they're copies of commercial products. What's your reaction to that? A: I disagree. It's an easy argument to make. One reason people make it is that, in open source, they don't see the revolutionary new versions magically appearing. In comparison, look at commercial closed systems. They make a new release every year or three to four years with a huge marketing splash. They make it look very different. But it's a circus to make it look like a sudden innovation. In open source, you don't have a circus. You don't see a sudden explosion. It's not done that way. All development is very gradual -- whether commercial or open source. Even when you have a big thinker coming along with a new idea, actually getting it working takes a lot of sweat and tears. There's innovation in Linux. There are some really good technical features that I'm proud of. There are capabilities in Linux that aren't in other operating systems. A lot of them are about performance. They're internal ways of doing things in a very efficient manner. In a kernel, you're trying to hide the hard work from the application, rather than exposing the complexity. As a result of these innovations, you get good performance, better security. Linux is actually very stable. People complain about how long it takes us to develop new versions, but we made sure that with new upgrades, old programs continue to run. We have programs written in 1992 that will run on the latest versions. Also it's good to copy good ideas. It should be encouraged. We don't say Einstein was a really smart guy and we should come up with a better theory of relativity. We build on top of his good ideas and have new exciting quests.
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