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Tesla worked for Edison and was a person who could finish things and some of them changed the world. He was also person with vision, so I think Linus is either
by popee 10y ago
Tesla worked for Edison and was a person who could finish things and some of them changed the world. He was also person with vision, so I think Linus is either wrong or he is trying to put emphasis only on hard work. What if you have person like Tesla with both qualities?
- oska 10y ago> What if you have person like Tesla with both qualities? Like Elon Musk for example (who Torvalds seems to be making a gentle dig at, in the quote above).
- tylercubell 10y agoI agree -- you need a little bit of both qualities. The vision of what to create and the execution to carry it out. The two go hand in hand. I think Linus is putting the emphasis on hard work because we mere mortals aren't endowed with the same genius that Tesla had and for us, the best way to achieve something great is through hard work instead of "divine" inspiration.
- nickpsecurity 10y agoThe Chinese made a whole industry out of executing without visionaries. It's called cloning products of visionaries. Or slightly improving them based on marketing feedback.
- pmontra 10y agoEverybody starts with copying. You need a certain amount of proficiency in a given subject to be able to innovate. China will get there at scale too.
- nickpsecurity 10y agoThey start with a bit of copying then follow with originality. This is true even for high schoolers doing programming in US. China's copiers in imdustry didnt for a long time. So, it's not as simple as you suggested. Shenzhen is in opposite situation where it's both cloning and innovating so fast there's no stability in offerings.
- emodendroket 10y agoI think maybe you should go back to the history of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, which hinged initially on industrial espionage.
- nickpsecurity 10y agoThey didnt invent anything? Only duplicated others' work identically or with uglier, shoddier construction at lower prices? Im interested in a link with evidence of that if you have it.
- coldtea 10y agoUntil quite late, with Edison and co, they didn't. And that's like 2 centuries after independence. All major inventions (and their first major uses in production) came from Europe until then, from the steam engine (UK) and the radio (Italy), to the car engine (Germany), the refrigerator (Germany, UK), the battery (Italy), telephone (Scotland), etc. >Only duplicated others' work identically or with uglier, shoddier construction at lower prices? Also, "uglier, shoddier construction at lower prices"? You seem to be under the impression that the Chinese just build cheap knockoffs. Actually they also build also the high quality, high precision stuff you buy, from iPhones to BMWs (as of now 1 million BMWs have been assembled in Chinese plants).
- roymurdock 10y agoHe is simplifying the situation to make his point, that if you have to choose between inspiration and execution, he would choose execution by a wide margin. It's not meant to be an accurate historical commentary or to portray any sort of reality.