Sometimes you read things, you see things and use things – and you’re just amazed by it, every creation has its creator. There’s an artist behind a painting I can point too. I personally think I would be missing out if I thought otherwise. Now hey, you can believe otherwise and say things just appear out of no where but you’re really cutting yourself short of some really good stuff. And if you want to really dig in deep into something, then you’d consider the mind behind the machine.
Yeah I know what you’re thinking – who names anyone Linus? Well replace that “s” with an “x” in Linus and you get the most powerful open source operating system that’s ever walked the face of this earth – LINUX.
Well I only say that because it’s mascot is actually a Penguin.
Alright if you’re curious why a penguin or by name, “Tux” or (T)orvalds (U)ni(X). Yeah it looks a little cryptic, but look at the abbreviations it spells out “T.U.X”. When one usually thinks of tuxedo’s, penguins come to mind and what better way to hold a logo submission contest for the best lookin’ penguin around.
If you don’t already know, Linux software is like the god of operating systems. Linux has a brother though – his name is Windows. If you’re a PC user, you’re using Windows. If you’re a mac user, you’re using a flavor of Unix, which is basically Linux. Linux is on all over our android devices and personally it’s my favorite operating system – hey, I’m a big fan of open source.
So this post is actually based on a Youtube Video Review, you can check out here – Linux Torvalds – The man behind Linux. I intentionally subtitled this post “The mind behind the Linux” just to generalize a higher level of understanding, in a philosophical sense. I randomly stumbled upon it while I was taking a quick break from programming. I was excited to have landed on this hidden gem. Linus Torvalds is a well respected name among programming nerds and if you know your Linux history then you’re a true programmer.
So let’s start out with Linus’ headquarters – where all the coding magic happens.
Yeah you were probably expecting some sophisticated gadgetry or like 4 screens at least. Linus knows better, a true programmer needs to steer clear of clutter and any distractions. Programming is much like building a machine with a mind of its own. Programming is also a lot like surgery when a machine is broken. Yeah, I just got into some serious stuff there.
Linus likes to describe his code cave as follows
- No external stimulation to disrupt Linus
- Walls are light green, a calming color
- Computer has to be silent, no need for distracting computer fans
- Nice and quiet
The power of open source. How did it lead to the development of Linux
- Linus prefers to work alone
- Linux started out as a personal pet project
- Linus was open to open source licenses, but worried about someone else taking advantage of his work
- Linus liked the open source concept, it was not so much about contributing code but about feedback and ideas
- Linus is not generally a people person
- Linux was about community
Whoa, I can totally relate to Linus – I’m kind of the same way. Let’s tune in some more.
The birth of GIT
Yeah GIT. It sounds like “GET”, but “GIT”. I won’t cover GIT in detail here because well – GIT is another powerful open source versioning control software I use on the daily. Oh yeah, of course – Linus built this too.
Linux and Git was Linus’ way of connecting with people, because well, Linus preferred to work alone.
- Linus codes for fun and meaningfulness
- Linux and Git arose as an unintended consequence to not have to work with too many people.
- Linus most exceptional quality was never letting go
- Linus worked for the same company for 7 years in Silicon Valley
Yeah I know, this post was originally supposed to be a list of notes in bullet list format but I couldn’t help myself. So excuse the choppiness.
In closing…
Linus described himself more in line with Thomas Edison. Tesla has the mind to grab people these days but who actually changed the world – well, it was Edison.
Linus finally describes himself not as a visionary looking up but an engineer looking down at pot holes that needs fixing. I didn’t expect that from Linus – I was actually enlightened by this. I couldn’t stop thinking about it – but that’s the kind of knowledge you get when you dig in deep into the mind behind the (Linux) machine.
During my exploration I found these Linus’ quotes quite entertaining. Enjoy.
“Non-technical questions sometimes don’t have an answer at all.”
“Those that can, do. Those that can’t, complain.
“All operating systems sucks, but Linux just sucks less.”
“Avoiding complexity reduces bugs.”
“People who are doing things for fun do things the right way by themselves.”
“Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting work done.”
I am not out to destroy Microsoft, that would be a completely unintended side effect.”