But he's also contributed to a lot of open source software. Linux grew to the point of being "cool" among geeks due to the strength of its open source ecosyste

But he's also contributed to a lot of open source software. Linux grew to the point of being "cool" among geeks due to the strength of its open source ecosystem. One of the things my wife admires about me is my proficiency with computers, which I got into through Linux. So indirectly his software (e.g. Xscreensaver) got me laid. I think it's more a philosophy of "You get what you give", in more ways than one.