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> Bezos talks about a lesson imparted by his grandfather on one of the cross-country road trips they would take every summer: “Jeff, one day you’ll understand t
by zeteo 9y ago
> Bezos talks about a lesson imparted by his grandfather on one of the cross-country road trips they would take every summer: “Jeff, one day you’ll understand that it’s harder to be kind than clever.”
Sure, that's nice rhetoric. And yet the "kind" Bezos has presided over some of the worst working conditions in the developed world [1] while the "blunt" Torvalds has kept together the very scattered Linux team for decades without controlling their income or work conditions. Apparently the more money you have, the more you can get away with a "do as I say, not as I do" standard.
[1] http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/ http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_...
- walterstucco 9y agoIf you're poor they will tell you you're batshit crazy If you're rich or their salary depend on you, you are eclectic
- eivarv 9y agoI think you mean "eccentric".
- walterstucco 9y agoYeah, eccentric works best in english, I just translated "eclettico" from Italian, that actually means eclectic, but it is used with a slightly different meaning. Thanks
- rdtsc 9y agoThere was once a CEO, and he was a fan of Apple, especially he liked Steve Jobs. So much so he wanted to imitate Steve Jobs. Out of all the excentric qualities Steve Jobs had, this CEO picked only that of being asshole. I imagine it was frustrating thinking here they are immigrating the great Steve Jobs and yet the company didn't grow, employees were quitting, customers were leaving because they never got features they were promised and so on.
- grkvlt 9y ago"It's one of those irregular verbs [...] I have an independent mind, You are eccentric, He is round the twist." (from Yes, Minister)
- BigChiefSmokem 9y agoI think people like to dissect this too much. Your instincts, after millions of years of evolution, tell you all you need to know about a person. There is nothing "kind" about Linus, Bezos, Jobs, or even Gates for that matter. Grandmas tend to be kind, but these people are definitely not anywhere near that realm.
- coldtea 9y agoBezos, Jobs and Gates may be not, but Linus might very well be kind. He doesn't take decisions that can screw thousands of people to his profit. Whether he would if he had that power, he didn't strive to get that power, and he doesn't have it, so while we can't rule it out, we also can tell that he isn't kind with any certainty. And surely he's not "unkind" just because he's famous or has a full mouth. That's not what kindness is about -- I know people 10 times as foul mouthed, that were real sweethearts and could give you a liver if you needed one.
- bamboozled 9y agoAgreed, he has given away his best work, to the world for free, which is an act of extreme kindness where I'm from. This is work that improves many lives.
- branchless 9y agoExactly, deeds are louder than words. Can you imagine what the world would be like without linux? He and Stallman deserve statues. They have given us our freedom. If we had to rely on microsoft and had no alternative could we get to sites that host anti-establishment views? We can never know, and need not go there thanks to these men.
- eropple 9y agoEr. Linux is neat tech and all, but we had alternatives well before Linux existed. The rewriting of history is not necessary.
- 9y ago
- avip 9y ago>relying on a security firm with alleged neo-Nazi connections that Wow. That sent my BS sensors straight up to saturation. Someone has an agenda here, and it's not to inform you.
- thinkfurther 9y agoYou have a point in that security firms and right-wing hooligans go together like peanut butter and jelly, so it's a bit like saying someone drinks soda which contains H2O, which Hitler also consumed daily. Even if true it says nothing.
- jdietrich 9y agoIf the security industry in your country really is rife with right-wing hooligans, you need better regulation.
- coldtea 9y agoRegulation of what? As if some country has solved this? In every country I know the security industries are filled with extreme right wingers and/or hooligans.
- jdietrich 9y agoThe security industry. A proper regulatory regime requires mandatory licensing for anyone working in the security industry, with a history of violent crime or extremism being automatic grounds for refusal of a license. You won't catch everyone, but it isn't at all difficult to weed out the obvious thugs and prevent a security industry from being "rife" or "filled" with neo-nazis.
- coldtea 9y agoEven the police is rife with racists, far right wingers, and even nazi sympathizers, and they'd somehow clear the security industry?
- bsder 9y agoSo, Bezos is choosing to be an asshole. Nice to know. Steve Yegge didn't call him the "Dread Pirate Bezos" for no reason, you know. https://plus.google.com/+RipRowan/posts/eVeouesvaVX https://plus.google.com/+RipRowan/posts/eVeouesvaVX