5 ms·

That was a dumb decision on Linus' part. Apple is the future; Linux is the past.

by ootachi 15y ago

NathanKP 15y ago
I don't think it's fair to say that it was a dumb decision, because as the article brings out at the time Linux seemed to be more likely to hit the mainstream than Apple. Also it is ignorant to say that Linux is the past, as it is the current dominant OS when it comes to web servers making it very much in the present.
- olalonde 15y ago
  I also believe Linux is the dominant smartphone OS. (IIRC, Android has the largest marketshare of smartphones http://news.cnet.com/8301-33200_3-57323943-290/ios-vs-android-lots-of-stats-little-clarity/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-33200_3-57323943-290/ios-vs-androi...)
  - icebraining 15y ago
    Not to mention embedded devices. Linux is everywhere.
  - el_presidente 15y ago
    It's also the dominant OS for supercomputers and (probably) set-top boxes.
param 15y ago
Way too broad a statement. Linux is clearly a future for a large segment of users, same as OSX. Actually, let me take that back - with the new 'post PC' world coming where only techies will have laptops, Linux has a greater future. OSX will fade because all hipsters will just have iOS devices
- NathanKP 15y ago
  I don't think Apple will leave the desktop/laptop field any time soon. In fact the statements they have been making with regard to OS X Mountain Lion show that they recognize the importance of desktop/laptop form factor. They just want to provide some of the "hipster" features of iOS on the desktop.
- rimantas 15y ago
  You may be underestimating the number of techies liking OS X.
  - fidotron 15y ago
    I think the problem is a lot of techies like OS X now, but not the way it's headed. Lion is enough to make me switch away, and I've been on OS X for a very long time. What's keeping OS X popular now is not its own merits, but that the alternatives are even worse.
    - NathanKP 15y ago
      I have to agree because I like Snow Leopard better than Lion and have not made the switch yet because of that. However I don't think this is a sign that OS X is endemic. I still have hope that Lion is just an ill planned stop on the OS X progression.
      - caf 15y ago
        endemic - I do not think it means what you think it means.
    - donw 15y ago
      Mind if I ask what you don't like? I upgraded a few months ago, and while I had to turn a few annoying bits off, it's overall much better than Snow Leopard.
      - fidotron 15y ago
        It's 99% that I hate (and I don't use that lightly) them screwing up Expose (to me this was the OS X killer feature on laptops) and the changes in scrolling. 1% is the unwelcome increase in skeuomorphism. Generally I don't get on with iOS either, so iOSification is a trend I'm not into. I accept that may not be a popular opinion, but there we are.
        15y ago
viraptor 15y ago
This is not an opportunity for Apple. It looks like trying to get rid of a known person from competition. Linus doesn't even write that much code anymore - he's controlling the releases and is vocal in the community, but I'm not sure why would Apple want him for. They've got their own processes and they don't need that kind of control over internal developers. Was there any real gain for them from that offer?
nixarn 15y ago
Really? I think Linux might be the future with it getting ready for the mass market, and with new hardware like the raspberry PI, Linux has only began it's global domination.
npsimons 15y ago
That was a dumb decision on Linus' part. Apple is the future; Linux is the past. This sounds so familiar; where have I heard it before. Oh yeah, it's what the MS fanboys were saying ten years ago :) Not that I'm anywhere near Linus' capabilities, but I would turn down a job offer from Apple too. I don't much fancy working for evil.
- herval 15y ago
  how's apple any more "evil" than any other big company (google included)?
  - tikhonj 15y ago
    For one, the other companies have other redeeming features: Microsoft has MSR, Google also does some research as well as a lot of open source stuff and IBM also does good research. Even Facebook contributes more to the community at large and the state of the art, as far as I know. All that Apple does is mostly produce overrated products in secrecy. Apple is also very anti-freedom in the GNU sense, and have horrible policies on iOS and their app store. They really treat developers working on their platform poorly, and actively work against letting their customers have alternatives. (Jailbreaking shouldn't even be necessary!) However, the really worst thing is how popular they are. Their draconian policies on iOS have pushed other companies--like Microsoft--to emulate that on their own problems; as far as I know, Windows Phone is almost as locked down as iOS. So Apple is at a weird confluence of evil and popular support, which is much more dangerous than evil by itself (this is why they are more worrisome than e.g. Oracle or even Microsoft). Their worst effect is cultural--making the nonsense around third-party iOS programs seem reasonable. If Linux dominated the market, you would be free to use it however you like. If iOS dominated the market, you'd have to play by Apple's rules--getting a developer account, going through their review process... And even OS X is going in this direction--you have to deal with Apple to get your code signed, and there are no alternatives. In a lot of ways, Apple is worse than Microsoft in its heyday; their only saving grace is their small market share--thankfully, Apple does not enjoy a monopoly anywhere or even a large share of the desktop market. Still, ignoring scale, they really are worse than Microsoft was; the scale is the reason they get away with all the things Microsoft couldn't (like standard web browsers or music players).
azov 15y ago
Probably over 80% of shiny content that users consume on Apple devices is served by Linux servers. Ever heard of that little thing called cloud? It's powered by Linux for the most part. By making operating system a commodity Linux changed computer industry forever, and it's not going anywhere. Don't underestimate it.
- MatthewPhillips 15y ago
  nit: a big chunk of the web is powered by FreeBSD.
  - alrs 15y ago
    This is no longer the case, from my reading. http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/os-bsd/all/all http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/os-bsd/all/all
  - kleiba 15y ago
    How big?
burgerbrain 15y ago
> "Apple is the future; Linux is the past." Even Apple itself doesn't believe that. They left the server market when they killed Xserve.
LukaD 15y ago
Bullshit!
mathnode 15y ago
Urr what OS do you think powers iCloud?
- DHowett 15y ago
  Windows, because Apple uses Azure[1] in the iCloud infrastructure. [1] http://www.infiniteapple.net/apple-icloud-azure-use-tested-confirmed/ http://www.infiniteapple.net/apple-icloud-azure-use-tested-c...
  - jonhendry 15y ago
    As I recall Apple was going to make use of both Azure and Amazon's cloud stuff.

That was a dumb decision on Linus' part. Apple is the future; Linux is the past.

by ootachi 15y ago

That was a dumb decision on Linus' part. Apple is the future; Linux is the past.

I don't think it's fair to say that it was a dumb decision, because as the article brings out at the time Linux seemed to be more likely to hit the mainstream than Apple. Also it is ignorant to say that Linux is the past, as it is the current dominant OS when it comes to web servers making it very much in the present.

olalonde 15y ago
I also believe Linux is the dominant smartphone OS. (IIRC, Android has the largest marketshare of smartphones http://news.cnet.com/8301-33200_3-57323943-290/ios-vs-android-lots-of-stats-little-clarity/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-33200_3-57323943-290/ios-vs-androi...)
- icebraining 15y ago
  Not to mention embedded devices. Linux is everywhere.
- el_presidente 15y ago
  It's also the dominant OS for supercomputers and (probably) set-top boxes.

param 15y ago

Way too broad a statement. Linux is clearly a future for a large segment of users, same as OSX. Actually, let me take that back - with the new 'post PC' world coming where only techies will have laptops, Linux has a greater future. OSX will fade because all hipsters will just have iOS devices

NathanKP 15y ago
I don't think Apple will leave the desktop/laptop field any time soon. In fact the statements they have been making with regard to OS X Mountain Lion show that they recognize the importance of desktop/laptop form factor. They just want to provide some of the "hipster" features of iOS on the desktop.
rimantas 15y ago
You may be underestimating the number of techies liking OS X.
- fidotron 15y ago
  I think the problem is a lot of techies like OS X now, but not the way it's headed. Lion is enough to make me switch away, and I've been on OS X for a very long time. What's keeping OS X popular now is not its own merits, but that the alternatives are even worse.
  - NathanKP 15y ago
    I have to agree because I like Snow Leopard better than Lion and have not made the switch yet because of that. However I don't think this is a sign that OS X is endemic. I still have hope that Lion is just an ill planned stop on the OS X progression.
    - caf 15y ago
      endemic - I do not think it means what you think it means.
  - donw 15y ago
    Mind if I ask what you don't like? I upgraded a few months ago, and while I had to turn a few annoying bits off, it's overall much better than Snow Leopard.
    - fidotron 15y ago
      It's 99% that I hate (and I don't use that lightly) them screwing up Expose (to me this was the OS X killer feature on laptops) and the changes in scrolling. 1% is the unwelcome increase in skeuomorphism. Generally I don't get on with iOS either, so iOSification is a trend I'm not into. I accept that may not be a popular opinion, but there we are.
      - 15y ago

viraptor 15y ago

This is not an opportunity for Apple. It looks like trying to get rid of a known person from competition. Linus doesn't even write that much code anymore - he's controlling the releases and is vocal in the community, but I'm not sure why would Apple want him for. They've got their own processes and they don't need that kind of control over internal developers. Was there any real gain for them from that offer?

nixarn 15y ago

Really? I think Linux might be the future with it getting ready for the mass market, and with new hardware like the raspberry PI, Linux has only began it's global domination.

npsimons 15y ago

That was a dumb decision on Linus' part. Apple is the future; Linux is the past. This sounds so familiar; where have I heard it before. Oh yeah, it's what the MS fanboys were saying ten years ago :) Not that I'm anywhere near Linus' capabilities, but I would turn down a job offer from Apple too. I don't much fancy working for evil.

herval 15y ago
how's apple any more "evil" than any other big company (google included)?
- tikhonj 15y ago
  For one, the other companies have other redeeming features: Microsoft has MSR, Google also does some research as well as a lot of open source stuff and IBM also does good research. Even Facebook contributes more to the community at large and the state of the art, as far as I know. All that Apple does is mostly produce overrated products in secrecy. Apple is also very anti-freedom in the GNU sense, and have horrible policies on iOS and their app store. They really treat developers working on their platform poorly, and actively work against letting their customers have alternatives. (Jailbreaking shouldn't even be necessary!) However, the really worst thing is how popular they are. Their draconian policies on iOS have pushed other companies--like Microsoft--to emulate that on their own problems; as far as I know, Windows Phone is almost as locked down as iOS. So Apple is at a weird confluence of evil and popular support, which is much more dangerous than evil by itself (this is why they are more worrisome than e.g. Oracle or even Microsoft). Their worst effect is cultural--making the nonsense around third-party iOS programs seem reasonable. If Linux dominated the market, you would be free to use it however you like. If iOS dominated the market, you'd have to play by Apple's rules--getting a developer account, going through their review process... And even OS X is going in this direction--you have to deal with Apple to get your code signed, and there are no alternatives. In a lot of ways, Apple is worse than Microsoft in its heyday; their only saving grace is their small market share--thankfully, Apple does not enjoy a monopoly anywhere or even a large share of the desktop market. Still, ignoring scale, they really are worse than Microsoft was; the scale is the reason they get away with all the things Microsoft couldn't (like standard web browsers or music players).

azov 15y ago

Probably over 80% of shiny content that users consume on Apple devices is served by Linux servers. Ever heard of that little thing called cloud? It's powered by Linux for the most part. By making operating system a commodity Linux changed computer industry forever, and it's not going anywhere. Don't underestimate it.

MatthewPhillips 15y ago
nit: a big chunk of the web is powered by FreeBSD.
- alrs 15y ago
  This is no longer the case, from my reading. http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/os-bsd/all/all http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/os-bsd/all/all
- kleiba 15y ago
  How big?

burgerbrain 15y ago

> "Apple is the future; Linux is the past." Even Apple itself doesn't believe that. They left the server market when they killed Xserve.

LukaD 15y ago

Bullshit!

mathnode 15y ago

Urr what OS do you think powers iCloud?

DHowett 15y ago
Windows, because Apple uses Azure[1] in the iCloud infrastructure. [1] http://www.infiniteapple.net/apple-icloud-azure-use-tested-confirmed/ http://www.infiniteapple.net/apple-icloud-azure-use-tested-c...
- jonhendry 15y ago
  As I recall Apple was going to make use of both Azure and Amazon's cloud stuff.