this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Shamelessly copied from a post on a Lemmy look alike site :)

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[–] [email protected] 141 points 6 months ago (4 children)

the Linux company mascot

They really had trouble wrapping their minds around this, didn't they.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago (1 children)

A mind molded by a lifetime of neoliberal capitalism does this. Same as when they were all looking for the "Bitcoin CEO".

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Exactly, the neoliberal capitalist religion causes collective brain damage. Especially at that time, since there was a frenzy of propaganda around Bill Gates and how he became the worlds richest man by selling software, in particular operating systems. So from that non-logic it follows that if you have a popular operating system you should become the worlds richest man, but if you just give it all away for free, then you gave away a fortune. It makes total sense in the completely warped, schizophrenic world view of the US neoliberal mainstream media.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago

I'm Operations Manager at Linux.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What?! You are doing something without a profit motive? That's impossible. 🤯🤯🤯🤯

[–] Murdoc 4 points 6 months ago

Not impossible, just The Most Generous Man In The World!

[–] [email protected] 94 points 6 months ago (4 children)

He didn't give up his fortune directly, because today he is a rich man. He just enriched with a different approach like opting to not lock the source code of his work like another guy we know well...

But I like him anyway

[–] [email protected] 64 points 6 months ago (1 children)

He would've definitely made more even as a senior employee in early Microsoft, IBM or any of the big Corps. Linux exists solely because he made it a collaborative endeavour from the start.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Linux exists solely because he made it a collaborative endeavour from the start.

That is the important part. If Linux had tried to compete with Microsoft as a closed-source operating system, no one would have used it -- who would use a tiny, buggy (back then), incomplete, closed-source operating system made by a few guys in their spare time against a very popular, feature-complete, close-source operating system with billions of dollars funding its engineering effort?

What makes Linux popular is that it is collectively owned, that is as much a feature of the operating system as any technology or algorithm written into the source code itself. That feature is what set it apart from Windows or Mac OS.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 6 months ago

For a guy like that, it was never about money. He knew that would come in comfortable enough amounts. For him, it was about being the smartest person in the room. And 90% of the time, he is. And he lets you know.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

opting to not lock the source code of his work like another guy we know well...

I'm out of the loop, who are you referring to?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

in flesh and bones

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ahh, I thought it was somebody else you were talking about since DOS was never open source

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It was about ms basic at the time I believe.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Interesting, so they had an open source product back then?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

No, but they were very adamantly against the sharing of ms basic which was their big product (before dos), at a time when software sharing was fairly common.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Oh ok, makes sense.
Funnily enough, it seems they decided to make it open source about 40 years later

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I don't think he ever expected fortunes, going off his famous usenet post. He just wanted a Unix-like OS that wasn't Minix and didn't cost exactly one space shuttle. One that he could fuck around and do anything he wanted with without regard for someone else's license and restrictions.

Everyone else wanting one too was a happy accident.

[–] nkat2112 51 points 6 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 70 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] NinePeedles 42 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

he's our our

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago (2 children)

personally Richard Stallman is my favorite out of the two but both are amazing people, who's impact on the world of software can not be understated.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If you want to see what the world would look like without the GPL, just look at how the BSDs are getting shanked by Apple (and many other companies too, but they're the biggest).

If it weren't for him, I have no idea what Linux would be today. No doubt in my mind, RMS is #1 on my list of most important software developers to have ever lived.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I agree with you 100%. Stallman is the soul of free software movement, he is the the philosopher of the movement and Torvalds the body, the "tech guy"

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Stallman did a lot of philosophy, but he's also made massive technical contributions.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Yes, you're a right

[–] [email protected] 33 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (4 children)

That so called "company mascot" on page 1 is so cute (-:

EDIT: the penguin, not Linus

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

Linus himself is not the mascot?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I want a big cuddly plush of Tux now.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 6 months ago

Linus is my superhero, apart from being the creator of Linux he can also give me marital recommendations

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Don't Believe the Headlines

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Clickbait from before it was called clickbait.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

I hate that I can't get through all the trash that has been the readers digest for the last 2 decades. Maybe my memory is tinted, but it seems like it's not what it used to be. Maybe my perspective has shifted.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Yeah... But his real article was on page 86.