Top 236 Quotes & Sayings by Linus Torvalds

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

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

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 often compare open source to science. To where science took this whole notion of developing ideas in the open and improving on other peoples' ideas and making it into what science is today and the incredible advances that we have had. And I compare that to witchcraft and alchemy, where openness was something you didn't do.

I'm perfectly happy complaining, because it's cathartic, and I'm perfectly happy arguing with people on the Internet because arguing is my favourite pastime - not programming.

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

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.

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

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.

Hey, I'm a good software engineer, but I'm not exactly known for my fashion sense. White socks and sandals don't translate to 'good design sense'.

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

Any program is only as good as it is useful.

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.

An individual developer like me cares about writing the new code and making it as interesting and efficient as possible. But very few people want to do the testing.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

My name is Linus, and I am your God.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think, fundamentally, open source does tend to be more stable software. It's the right way to do things.

To be a nemesis, you have to actively try to destroy something, don't you? Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect.

I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.

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.'

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

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

Every once in a while an issue comes up where I have to make a statement. I can't totally avoid all political issues, but I try my best to minimize them. When I do make a statement, I try to be fairly neutral.

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 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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Part of doing Linux was that I had to communicate a lot more instead of just being a geek in front of a computer.

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.

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

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

You won't get sued for anticompetitive behavior.

What I find most interesting is how people really have taken Linux and used it in ways and attributes and motivations that I never felt.

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.

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.

Finnish companies tend to be very traditional, not taking many risks. Silicon Valley is completely different: people here really live on the edge.

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

I don't have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I'm doing.

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 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.