Windows 7 Gets a Thumbs Up from Linus Torvalds

Didn't even dream such a day would dawn, did you ? Now here is the father of Linux posing before a Windows 7 stall in Japan with a thumbs up sign.

The story behind the picture

The occasion was a Linux Symposium held in Japan in which Linus Torvalds was an attendee. Microsoft knowing about the Linux Symposium erected a Windows 7 promotion booth right across the venue.

During the break, when Linus Torvalds was dragged to the Windows 7 booth by a few of his buddies, he chose to pose as seen in the picture.

If you are wondering, No! Linus didn't buy a copy of Windows 7.

Source of News : Engadget
Photo Credits : Chris @ Japan Linux Symposium

Is Linux kernel getting bloated ? Linus Torvalds says Yes!

A lot of bloat is creeping into the Linux kernel. This was the startling revelation made by none other than Linus Torvalds - Founder of the Linux kernel. He said this in his talk at LinuxCon - an event that brings together Linux gurus and open source leaders to provide collaboration and education space for all matters on Linux.

The word bloat is historically associated with Microsoft Windows because each major updates in the form of Windows Service Packs installs 100s of MB data on your machine.

The term "bloat" can be defined as software that provides minimal functionality while requiring a disproportionate amount of diskspace and memory. It is especially used for application and OS upgrades.

This is what Linus Torvalds said when the question on performance drops in each release of the kernel was posed to him (and I quote) :

We’re getting bloated and huge. Yes, it’s a problem.
...
I’d like to say we have a plan.
...
Sometimes it’s a bit sad that we are definitely not the streamlined, small hyper efficient kernel I envisioned 15 years ago. The kernel is huge and bloated and our iCache footprint is scary. There’s no question about that, and whenever we add a new feature, it only gets worse.

So do you think each version of Linux kernel is really providing marginal new features, all the while increasing the size of the kernel ?

Linus Torvalds ditches KDE 4 for GNOME

Linus Torvalds says he has ditched KDE for good and is now sleeping with its arch rival GNOME. Oh well, rhetoric apart, he says the move over to GNOME happened because in KDE 4, he found it quite bothersome that he couldn't get his Right mouse button to access the right menu he wanted. In short, he ran into usability issues while using KDE 4.0.

In an interview given to Rodney Gedda of "Computer World" - Australia, he had this to say, and I quote :

I used to be a KDE user. I thought KDE 4.0 was such a disaster I switched to GNOME. I hate the fact that my right button doesn't do what I want it to do. But the whole "break everything" model is painful for users and they can choose to use something else.

I realise the reason for the 4.0 release, but I think they did it badly. They did so may changes it was a half-baked release. It may turn out to be the right decision in the end and I will re-try KDE, but I suspect I'm not the only person they lost.

I am sure the GNOME camp must be rejoicing in having won over a high profile Linux user to their side. This when a few years back, Linus Torvalds had gone on record severely criticizing GNOME for over simplifying the user interface.

Linus Torvalds was in Australia to attend the annual linux.conf.au organised by Linux Australia. While he was rather critical of KDE 4 in its current form, he did say it was a good thing for Nokia to release Qt as LGPL. Among other things, he also gives his views on Microsoft Windows 7 advising Microsoft to release sooner and decouple the operating system from the applications. A really interesting interview.

Interview with Linus Torvalds

Linus Torvalds the self confessed benevolent dictator and father of Linux recently gave a frank interview to the Linux Foundation. In it he holds a conversation with Jim Zemlin and talks about the future of Linux, patents, internal and external competition,Microsoft and so on.

The interview is in the form of a podcast and is split into two parts [ Part I and Part II ]. Linux Foundation has also made available transcripts of the interview which you can read if you have a low bandwidth link. Transcripts of part I and part II .

Linus Torvalds speaks on the future of Linux

Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, has, along with others like Richard Stallman, literally changed the world of software forever.

Linux-based distributions seem to pop up every day, while more and more devices now run Linux at their core, from mobile phones to inflight entertainment systems, to the world's mission critical server infrastructures.

The development of the kernel has changed, and Linux is just getting better and better. However, with a community as large and fractured as the Linux community, it can sometimes be hard to get a big picture overview of where Linux is going: what's happening with kernel version 2.6? Will there be a version 3.0? What has Linus been up to lately? What does he get up to in his spare time?

APC Interviewer James Buchanan who is an Australian programmer, writer and cartoonist chats with Linus Torvalds and quizes him about what the future holds for the Linux kernel and in what direction it is being steered. Read the full interview.