4 ms·

Because it's not like you write songs which make people dream and fill a stadium to come and hear you play them Nor you are acting in movies which again make p

Because it's not like you write songs which make people dream and fill a stadium to come and hear you play them Nor you are acting in movies which again make people dream and embrace you as part of their life. You are writing freaking code, if you don't get the money, all you are left with is the tepid admiration of nerds around the world...can't imagine anybody desiring that. If Linus were to create a startup tomorrow it's not like people would waive their salary for the opportunity to work for the great man. To summarize if you don't get money you are left with absolutely nothing in hand.

robotbikes 5y ago
This maybe true for you but I know that I get a sense of satisfaction from releasing free software and knowing that people around the world are benefitting from it. Not everyone seems financial riches as the end goal of their efforts. Most musicians don't get boatloads of cash or to perform in stadiums but instead the appreciation of a handful of people who enjoy their music. It does depend on your motivation for writing the code as well. If you are coding to solve someone else's problem and feel no benefit from it then indeed money is typically expected.
- ObserverNeutral 5y ago
  > Most musicians don't get boatloads of cash or to perform in stadiums but instead the appreciation of a handful of people who enjoy their music. I think there is a whole world of difference between 60,000 people singing along to something you wrote and having 6,000,000 visits to your Github folder. Unless you are a robot the 2 feel and therefore are completely different feelings. Matter of fact the first is a feeling, the second is an acknowledgement that your code works fine. Businessmen seek to add monetary compensation to the aforementioned acknowledgement , because they know that the sole acknowledgement is not enough to propel future goals they might have.....including playing music in a stadium such as the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen did, or hosting a music festival such as Steve Wozniak US festival
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    People don't play music so they can get the cheers of 60,000 fans a few times in their career if they are extremely lucky. They play alone, with friends, with family because they like music. People don't write software like linux to get 6,000,000 likes they can bask in. They write software they need because they like writing software and need that software. People are successful when they decide to be. Are you successful?
    - ObserverNeutral 5y ago
      > People are successful when they decide to be. Are you successful? That is some sort of Politically correct thought where you give everybody participation trophies and everybody is successful (which means that nobody really is) Like everything there are metrics, Linus doesn't figure in any of the polls which ask people who they admire the most. Even those going down to #500. People like Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin...they all figure into those standings.
      - ipaddr 5y ago
        For many the level of admiration others have for them isn't as important as doing whatever one desires. Success is a state of mind. You setup the conditions.
luord 5y ago
The way I see it is that Linus already left his mark in history twice over (so far). I don't know how he feels about it[1], but if I were given the choice between being a billionaire and being remembered for a great thing I did, I'd certainly pick the second. And sure, many people have achieved both, but they didn't take their money with them once they were gone. As long as you have enough to live comfortably, everything else is at most an incidental bonus IMO. [1]: Though I haven't heard anything suggesting he's anything but pretty okay with his lot in life.
- ObserverNeutral 5y ago
  You are misguided. Nobody knows who Linus is..in all the "most admired" polls, even those computing down to #500 he doesn't appear. If you want to be remembered you have to make an effort to put yourself out there...that's the reason why Musk is so shamelessly self promotional in the social arena. Same for Larry Ellison Bill Gates even, although much less shamelessly.
  - DreamScatter 5y ago
    All the people you listed besides Linus are people i don't really respect all that much. Being famous does not equal being respected.
- teleforce 5y ago
  What a wise words and comments to say regarding the matter. I won't be surprised if he had one of the craters on the Mars named after him in the future. It also seems that in the interview Linus' wisdom really shining through. This perhaps due to the interviewer and interviewee were communicating through email, not in real-time, so both of them have ample time to reason and articulate their questions and answers properly. He who has been given wisdom, has been granted abundant good [1]. I think the interviewer missed the opportunity to ask Linus regarding one of his most popular quotes, “Only wimps use tape backup. REAL men just upload their important stuff on FTP and let the rest of the world mirror it.” The fact that he mainly contributed to the OS and the Git, both are essential components in doing online sharing. Thus it seems that he really took his conviction to be a REAL man, by his definition at least. And to be REAL man is one of the main purposes of life, according to Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If". [1]https://versebyversequranstudycircle.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/he-who-has-been-given-wisdom-has-been-granted-abundant-good/ https://versebyversequranstudycircle.wordpress.com/2017/02/1...
glitchc 5y ago
No? Normally when you write the code, you get the code. This is true for other activities too: You write a song, in the end you get the song, make a painting, in the end, get a painting. The fanbase and the money are all incidental, and sometimes orthogonal. You could write code that $makes some rich guy richer$ and that will probably make you more money than code that $gets a beer for everyone$, which instead might make you more popular. You could also write code to solve $a very specific problem that only you and 10 other people in the world have$, which will make you neither rich nor popular, but solves the problem that you had, so how valuable that code is all depends on the problem you had. Maybe you write some code that runs your insulin pump, so it keeps you alive without thinking about it. What's that worth? Is it more or less than the $makes some rich guy richer$ code? You decide. What's even better is that in all of those cases, you still have the code. Even if someone makes a copy of it, even if you give it away, you still get to keep what you wrote. Isn't that fantastic? I think that's fantastic. I get it. Making money is extremely important to you. Have at it. The world is your oyster. Some people have just moved past that point, which might be tough to accept, but is true, and I think they're on to something there.

robotbikes 5y ago

This maybe true for you but I know that I get a sense of satisfaction from releasing free software and knowing that people around the world are benefitting from it. Not everyone seems financial riches as the end goal of their efforts. Most musicians don't get boatloads of cash or to perform in stadiums but instead the appreciation of a handful of people who enjoy their music. It does depend on your motivation for writing the code as well. If you are coding to solve someone else's problem and feel no benefit from it then indeed money is typically expected.

ObserverNeutral 5y ago
> Most musicians don't get boatloads of cash or to perform in stadiums but instead the appreciation of a handful of people who enjoy their music. I think there is a whole world of difference between 60,000 people singing along to something you wrote and having 6,000,000 visits to your Github folder. Unless you are a robot the 2 feel and therefore are completely different feelings. Matter of fact the first is a feeling, the second is an acknowledgement that your code works fine. Businessmen seek to add monetary compensation to the aforementioned acknowledgement , because they know that the sole acknowledgement is not enough to propel future goals they might have.....including playing music in a stadium such as the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen did, or hosting a music festival such as Steve Wozniak US festival
- ipaddr 5y ago
  People don't play music so they can get the cheers of 60,000 fans a few times in their career if they are extremely lucky. They play alone, with friends, with family because they like music. People don't write software like linux to get 6,000,000 likes they can bask in. They write software they need because they like writing software and need that software. People are successful when they decide to be. Are you successful?
  - ObserverNeutral 5y ago
    > People are successful when they decide to be. Are you successful? That is some sort of Politically correct thought where you give everybody participation trophies and everybody is successful (which means that nobody really is) Like everything there are metrics, Linus doesn't figure in any of the polls which ask people who they admire the most. Even those going down to #500. People like Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin...they all figure into those standings.
    - ipaddr 5y ago
      For many the level of admiration others have for them isn't as important as doing whatever one desires. Success is a state of mind. You setup the conditions.

luord 5y ago

The way I see it is that Linus already left his mark in history twice over (so far). I don't know how he feels about it[1], but if I were given the choice between being a billionaire and being remembered for a great thing I did, I'd certainly pick the second. And sure, many people have achieved both, but they didn't take their money with them once they were gone. As long as you have enough to live comfortably, everything else is at most an incidental bonus IMO. [1]: Though I haven't heard anything suggesting he's anything but pretty okay with his lot in life.

ObserverNeutral 5y ago
You are misguided. Nobody knows who Linus is..in all the "most admired" polls, even those computing down to #500 he doesn't appear. If you want to be remembered you have to make an effort to put yourself out there...that's the reason why Musk is so shamelessly self promotional in the social arena. Same for Larry Ellison Bill Gates even, although much less shamelessly.
- DreamScatter 5y ago
  All the people you listed besides Linus are people i don't really respect all that much. Being famous does not equal being respected.
teleforce 5y ago
What a wise words and comments to say regarding the matter. I won't be surprised if he had one of the craters on the Mars named after him in the future. It also seems that in the interview Linus' wisdom really shining through. This perhaps due to the interviewer and interviewee were communicating through email, not in real-time, so both of them have ample time to reason and articulate their questions and answers properly. He who has been given wisdom, has been granted abundant good [1]. I think the interviewer missed the opportunity to ask Linus regarding one of his most popular quotes, “Only wimps use tape backup. REAL men just upload their important stuff on FTP and let the rest of the world mirror it.” The fact that he mainly contributed to the OS and the Git, both are essential components in doing online sharing. Thus it seems that he really took his conviction to be a REAL man, by his definition at least. And to be REAL man is one of the main purposes of life, according to Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If". [1]https://versebyversequranstudycircle.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/he-who-has-been-given-wisdom-has-been-granted-abundant-good/ https://versebyversequranstudycircle.wordpress.com/2017/02/1...

glitchc 5y ago

No? Normally when you write the code, you get the code. This is true for other activities too: You write a song, in the end you get the song, make a painting, in the end, get a painting. The fanbase and the money are all incidental, and sometimes orthogonal. You could write code that $makes some rich guy richer$ and that will probably make you more money than code that $gets a beer for everyone$, which instead might make you more popular. You could also write code to solve $a very specific problem that only you and 10 other people in the world have$, which will make you neither rich nor popular, but solves the problem that you had, so how valuable that code is all depends on the problem you had. Maybe you write some code that runs your insulin pump, so it keeps you alive without thinking about it. What's that worth? Is it more or less than the $makes some rich guy richer$ code? You decide. What's even better is that in all of those cases, you still have the code. Even if someone makes a copy of it, even if you give it away, you still get to keep what you wrote. Isn't that fantastic? I think that's fantastic. I get it. Making money is extremely important to you. Have at it. The world is your oyster. Some people have just moved past that point, which might be tough to accept, but is true, and I think they're on to something there.