Quotes By Linus Torvalds

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.

In my opinion MS is a lot better at making money than it is at making good operating systems.

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 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.

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

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

The cyberspace earnings I get from Linux come in the format of having a Network of people that know me and trust me, and that I can depend on in return.

When you say "I wrote a program that crashed Windows," people just stare at you blankly and say "Hey, I got those with the system, for free."

Linux has definitely made a lot of sense even in a purely materialistic sense.

Making Linux GPL'd was definitely the best thing I ever did.

When it comes to software, I much prefer free software, because I have very seldom seen a program that has worked well enough for my needs, and having sources available can be a life-saver.

Before the commercial ventures, Linux tended to be rather hard to set up, because most of the developers were motivated mainly by their own interests.

I've been employed by the University of Helsinki, and they've been perfectly happy to keep me employed and doing Linux.

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

Artists usually don't make all that much money, and they often keep their artistic hobby despite the money rather than due to it.

I'm generally a very pragmatic person: that which works, works.

Helsinki isn't all that bad. It's a very nice city, and it's cold really only in wintertime.

Any program is only as good as it is useful.

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

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

Shareware tends to combine the worst of commercial software with the worst of free software.

My name is Linus, and I am your God.

What commercialism has brought into Linux has been the incentive to make a good distribution that is easy to use and that has all the packaging issues worked out.

I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up.

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.

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

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

The Linux philosophy is 'Laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong One. 'Do it yourself'. Yes, that's it.

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

You won't get sued for anticompetitive behavior.