Top 80 Linus Torvalds Quotes

In real open source, you have the right to control your own destiny.

The economics of the security world are all horribly, horribly nasty and are largely based on fear, intimidation and blackmail.

My name is Linus, and I am your God.

It’s a personality trait: from the very beginning, I knew what I was concentrating on. I’m only doing the kernel – I always found everything around it to be completely boring.

In open source, we feel strongly that to really do something well, you have to get a lot of people involved.

I get the biggest enjoyment from the random and unexpected places. Linux on cellphones or refrigerators, just because it’s so not what I envisioned it. Or on supercomputers.

Microsoft isn’t evil, they just make really crappy operating systems.

I’ve been very happy with the commercial Linux CD-ROM vendors linux Red Hat.

I like to think that I’ve been a good manager. That fact has been very instrumental in making Linux a successful product.

In many cases, the user interface to a program is the most important part for a commercial company: whether the programs works correctly or not seems to be secondary.

I get the biggest enjoyment from the random and unexpected places. Linux on cellphones or refrigerators, just because it’s so not what I envisioned it. Or on supercomputers.

I don’t actually go to that many conferences. I do that a couple of times a year. Normally, I am not recognized; people don’t throw their panties at me. I’m a perfectly normal person sitting in my den just doing my job.

People enjoy the interaction on the Internet, and the feeling of belonging to a group that does something interesting: that’s how some software projects are born.

No-one has ever called me a cool dude. I’m somewhere between geek and normal.

No-one has ever called me a cool dude. I’m somewhere between geek and normal.

Most good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program.

That’s what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It’s a positive feedback cycle.

To be honest, the fact that people trust you gives you a lot of power over people. Having another person’s trust is more powerful than all other management techniques put together.

If you start doing things because you hate others and want to screw them over, the end result is bad.

In many ways, I am very happy about the whole Linux commercial market because the commercial market is doing all these things that I have absolutely zero interest in doing myself.

I actually think that I’m a rather optimistic and happy person; it’s just that I’m not a very positive person, if you see the difference.

I’m interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn’t started as any kind of rebellion against the ‘evil Microsoft empire.’

The memory management on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children.

I lose sleep if I end up feeling bad about something I’ve said. Usually that happens when I send something out without having read it over a few times, or when I call somebody names.

I never felt that the naming issue was all that important, but I was obviously wrong, judging by how many people felt. I tell people to call it just plain Linux and nothing more.

I personally think of Linux development as being pretty non-localized, and I work with all the people entirely over e-mail – even if they happen to be working in the Portland area.

I don’t expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.

There were open source projects and free software before Linux was there. Linux in many ways is one of the more visible and one of the bigger technical projects in this area, and it changed how people looked at it because Linux took both the practical and ideological approach.

I don’t think I’m unusual in preferring my laptop to be thin and light.

I want my office to be quiet. The loudest thing in the room – by far – should be the occasional purring of the cat.

I don’t expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.

I don’t try to be a threat to MicroSoft, mainly because I don’t really see MS as competition. Especially not Windows-the goals of Linux and Windows are simply so different.

Helsinki may not be as cold as you make it out to be, but California is still a lot nicer. I don’t remember the last time I couldn’t walk around in shorts all day.

The thing with Linux is that the developers themselves are actually customers too: that has always been an important part of Linux.

Microsoft isn’t evil, they just make really crappy operating systems.

I never felt that the naming issue was all that important, but I was obviously wrong, judging by how many people felt. I tell people to call it just plain Linux and nothing more.

See, you not only have to be a good coder to create a system like Linux, you have to be a sneaky bastard too.

I’d much rather have 15 people arguing about something than 15 people splitting into two camps, each side convinced it’s right and not talking to the other.

A consumer doesn’t take anything away: he doesn’t actually consume anything. Giving the same thing to a thousand consumers is not really any more expensive than giving it to just one.

I’m sitting in my home office wearing a bathrobe. The same way I’m not going to start wearing ties, I’m also not going to buy into the fake politeness, the lying, the office politics and backstabbing, the passive aggressiveness, and the buzzwords.

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.

I’ve felt strongly that the advantage of Linux is that it doesn’t have a niche or any special market, but that different individuals and companies end up pushing it in the direction they want, and as such you end up with something that is pretty balanced across the board.

That’s what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It’s a positive feedback cycle.

If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I’ve won.

I very seldom worry about other systems. I concentrate pretty fully on just making Linux the best I can.

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.

I’m interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn’t started as any kind of rebellion against the ‘evil Microsoft empire.’

In open source, we feel strongly that to really do something well, you have to get a lot of people involved.

It’s a personality trait: from the very beginning, I knew what I was concentrating on. I’m only doing the kernel – I always found everything around it to be completely boring.

Software is like sex: it’s better when it’s free.

I spend a lot more time than any person should have to talking with lawyers and thinking about intellectual property issues.

The thing I love about diving is the flowing feeling. I like a sport where the whole point is to move as little as humanly possible so your air supply will last longer. That’s my kind of sport. Where the amount of effort spent is absolutely minimal.

Software is like sex: it’s better when it’s free.

The thing I love about diving is the flowing feeling. I like a sport where the whole point is to move as little as humanly possible so your air supply will last longer. That’s my kind of sport. Where the amount of effort spent is absolutely minimal.

Turtles are very stable and have been around forever. But they have problems adapting. When humans came along, turtles came under serious threat. Biodiversity is good, and I think it is good in technology as well.

By staying neutral, I end up being somebody that everybody can trust. Even if they don’t always agree with my decisions, they know I’m not working against them.

I see myself as a technical person who chose a great project and a great way of doing that project.

People enjoy the interaction on the Internet, and the feeling of belonging to a group that does something interesting: that’s how some software projects are born.

There are lots of Linux users who don’t care how the kernel works, but only want to use it. That is a tribute to how good Linux is.

Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done.

I’m sitting in my home office wearing a bathrobe. The same way I’m not going to start wearing ties, I’m also not going to buy into the fake politeness, the lying, the office politics and backstabbing, the passive aggressiveness, and the buzzwords.

The economics of the security world are all horribly, horribly nasty and are largely based on fear, intimidation and blackmail.

Non-technical questions sometimes don’t have an answer at all.

I personally think of Linux development as being pretty non-localized, and I work with all the people entirely over e-mail – even if they happen to be working in the Portland area.