11.26.07

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Quick Mention: Linus Torvalds “Really Don’t Know” About the Legal Issues

Posted in GNU/Linux, Interview, Kernel at 2:57 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

A month ago we argued that what makes Linus Torvalds such an excellent programmer is the fact that he does not get distracted by ‘politics’ and gossip. He finally appears to admit that he does not get involved with the legal issues and he also acknowledge the fact that a lot of money is being used against his work (the Linux kernel). From this new interview (via DisinformationWeek:

InformationWeek: Do you think there is any way Microsoft, patent holders, or lawyers can take direct aim at the kernel development process and impede it?

Torvalds: I really don’t know. I don’t think they can impede the technology, and I really don’t think there is anything real behind that whole intellectual property FUD machine. But nearly infinite amounts of money certainly goes a long way.

I’m again the wrong person to ask. I work on the technology, and I make sure we do that as well as we can (which does include the ways we do it, including things like doing all the copyright certification we do), but I think that when it comes to these issues, you’re really talking about marketing and FUD, not so much anything I’m able to really answer.

For reference, relevant past items are appended.

Torvalds on the Novell/Microsoft deal:

Torvalds on Microsoft’s patent threats:

Torvalds on the GPL(v3):

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6 Comments

_e_e_t_ said,

November 26, 2007 at 4:37 am

It is astounding that an interview with Linux in which he says 1) he really doesn’t know and that 2) he doesn’t think patents will have any influence on the spread of Linux gets fabricated into another FUD-article by you.

This is so typical of your FUD-machine: 1) take small pieces from things you find on the internet, 2) quote them out of context, 3) attach massive amounts of backlinks to your _own_ articles, 4) claim the out-of-context-quotes would somehow prove all you’ve written previously.

You are a one-man-FUD-machine, Roy, and I would be very careful now – you’ve already managed to catch the attention of GNOME board director beating the proverbial living daylights out of your so-called ‘journalism’. Continue like that and you’ll have Linus himself to give you a good whacking, soon

Note: comment has been flagged for arriving from a known, pseudonymous, nymshifting, abusive Internet troll
_e_e_t_ said,

November 26, 2007 at 4:44 am

replace ‘Linux’ with ‘Linus’ where applicable…

Note: comment has been flagged for arriving from a known, pseudonymous, nymshifting, abusive Internet troll
lalala said,

November 26, 2007 at 7:12 am

So, when others comment here and don’t agree with you, they’re automatically abusive internet trolls? Shame on you.
Roy Schestowitz said,

November 26, 2007 at 7:25 am

Follow the link and find of what type of person we’re talking about here: http://boycottnovell.com/2007/11/22/eet-strommael-gmx-net/
lalala said,

November 26, 2007 at 12:21 pm

I liked the part “What kind of vandal is this guy?” because some of it applies to you.
You want people to think like you think.
You want people to think SUSE is bad, and so is Novell.
You refuse to accept that your comments on Digg and other sites are not welcome.
You keep posting and posting again the same comments like a broken machine.
Roy Schestowitz said,

November 26, 2007 at 2:54 pm

You keep posting and posting again the same comments like a broken machine.

No, that’s what people say when they naively argue that I use a multiple identities, such as CyberPhoenix, which is a complete and utter lie. In general, there’s a group in Digg that systematically mods down all my comments and uses tools lke Digg Stalker to track my comments and then attach slander to some of them.