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Linus Torvalds winner of the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize
- bazzargh 15y agoI think the selection committee downplayed the importance of Linux a bit: "Today the estimated number of users is 30 million...". According to ComScore, there's around 52 million Android users in the US alone. And then there's all the users of Linux-based websites...which is just about everyone who owns a computer.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- sp332 15y agoI think it's been modified to just "millions", unless I'm looking in the wrong place?
- zerostar07 15y agoIf you include routers, ip cameras, entertainment devices etc that use linux, maybe the correct number is billions.
- bazzargh 15y agoIt's still there, right at the foot of the page: In recognition of the unprejudiced creation of a new open source operating system leading to the largely exploited Linux kernel. The free availability on the Web swiftly caused a chain-reaction leading to further development and fine-tuning worth the equivalent of 73,000 man-years. Today the estimated number of users is 30 million. The achievement of Linus Torvalds has had a great impact on software development and on cultural and ethical issues of networking and openness of the Web.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- stayclassytally 15y agoLest we forget Git, which is a great DVCS and is changing the way Open Source software is developed.
- lgas 15y agoAnd closed systems too.
- Deestan 15y agoAnd server configuration snapshots.
- possibilistic 15y agoAnd definitely dotfiles. Keeps all my machines in sync as I like them.
- why-el 15y agoand all my papers. :) I use git for managing word docs at school.
- possibilistic 15y agoOoh! Evangelism time! Have you tried LaTeX yet? I just started using it seriously and I don't think I'll ever go back. It's amazing for writing. And since it's good old plain text, it's highly compatible with git. I love being able to import sub-documents into one large structure; it's like writing modular code, but with papers.
- why-el 15y agoI will definitely check it out. Getting get to sync whith MS doc was certainly a pain.
- davidw 15y agoThe text is pretty bad for such a prestigious thing: > Linus Torvalds said: > “Software is too important in the modern world not to be developed through open sources. "Sources"? I bet he didn't say that. This bit is even worse if you're at all familiar with tech: > What the selection committee said about this year’s Laureates > Linus Torvalds > “In recognition of the unprejudiced creation of a new open source operating system leading to the largely exploited Linux kernel. "Widely used", not "largely exploited"!
- unwind 15y agoAgree, the sentence "Today millions use computers, smartphones and digital video recorders like Tivo run on Linux." also doesn't feel likt it's quite done. Nevertheless, huge congratulations of course, it's always fun when Linus (and software engineering in general) gets some recognition. :)
- jmilloy 15y ago1. I agree it sounds a little abnormal, but it makes sense to me. Why are you so quick to write "open sources" off as error (or fabrication)? 2. from google re: exploit - 1. Make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource): "500 companies sprang up to exploit this new technology".
- davidw 15y ago1) Because it's not correct. It's "open source". 2) Sure, but it makes you cringe as a tech person, and sounds just like the kind of thing a non-native speaker would have written that's technically correct, but doesn't really sound quite right.
- rikthevik 15y agoBoth `open sources` and `exploited` have precise meanings in this context. A quick proofread by someone familiar with Linus would have removed these two mistakes.
- rwmj 15y agoHe might have said the original in Swedish [sic].
- Kototama 15y agoHow ironic it is that they cite Tivo as an example of embedded Linux. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization
- streptomycin 15y agoIt'd be ironic if they were giving the award to a FSF person. Linus has no problem with Tivoization, though.
- kleiba 15y agoIn recognition of his creation of a new open source operating system for computers leading to the widely used Linux kernel. Couldn't help but think of RMS and the GNU operating system when I read this sentence.
- zerostar07 15y agoLooks like Linus did more or better work. I 've never used/seen a gnu hurd system in my life. Edit: Well, then you should not stop at Stallman. Hundreds of scientists, going back to Godel and beyond gave roots to modern open algorithms/software by giving away their academic research for free. I think Linux did not start just to be a free kernel, but because linus wanted to actually make a better system than minix (and learn to use 386, and finish his Master!).
- kleiba 15y agoOh, I didn't mean GNU+Hurd in particular, rather the fact that any operating system is more than "just" the kernel. And that is not meant to discredit Linus' outstanding achievement.
- kds 15y agoBut you've seen the GCC - the thing that compiles the Linux kernel, right? The default C - and some more languages - compiler on almost any Linux or BSD system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Compiler_Collection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Compiler_Collection
- jkn 15y agoThey got it backwards, it should read: In recognition of his creation of a new open source kernel leading to the widely used Linux-based operating systems for computers.
- chimeracoder 15y agoYeah - even though rms would still complain about that sentence, the first version is just painfully wrong. Why bother to distinguish between the OS and the kernel if you're going to attribute the former to the wrong person? It's not like the kernel is named after him or anything!
- possibilistic 15y agoLet's not forget Dr. Yamanaka's contributions to iPS techniques. I keep seeing these trump hESC in all of the primary literature I read (granted, much due to the political stigma of hESC funding). For example, I've been reading all the literature about the establishment of an antigen deficient RBC precursor line from iPS for replacing blood donations wholesale. We're a long way off since globin expression is wrong (fetal vs adult; thus O2 binding kinetics are wrong; T/R states...), and there are a wide variety of other issues. Unfortunately globin switch is epigenetic / in histone coding... iPS are amazing and have an incredible future in medicine.
- yogrish 15y agoHe definitely deserves it. Congrats Linus.
- masmullin 15y agoIsn't this 12 years late (or 11 years)? Or perhaps 988 (989) years early?
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- Tobu 15y agoLinux has been growing ever since, and Linus is still in charge of the whole thing: http://kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges http://kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges http://youtu.be/yVpbFMhOAwE http://youtu.be/yVpbFMhOAwE
- robwgibbons 15y agoWhat about Stallman? Not to discredit Torvalds, but a kernel != an operating system
- Tobu 15y agoIndeed, but emacs isn't very close to world domination.
- kds 15y agoIt's the GCC and the related tools, my friend, that made possible the GNU Linux OS and its kernel, and a multitude of other open source (free!) software. And also the GPL license, of course. People shouldn't be so fixed just on Emacs as the only Stallman's contribution and defining legacy in the software world. IMHO, his editor is the least important thing he created. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Compiler_Collection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Compiler_Collection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License