[luau] INTERVIEW: Linus Torvalds (without Linux)

[Warren Togami]

This is an interview of Linus Torvalds focusing on his life, home country
and interests other than Linux.  Interesting read to learn about the man
behind Linux.

Please play close attention to the answer of the last quoted question below.
What he says about "Linux didn't start due to any anti-MS issues, and I
still simply don't care about Microsoft."  is very true about how he has
always felt.

http://newsforge.com/newsforge/02/05/21/0127218.shtml?tid=23

Question: And what about fiction? I guess from the name of your cat --
Randy -- that you like Tolkien, am I right?

Torvalds: Yes, I always liked reading. And "The Lord of the Rings" was one
of the first books in English I read (i.e. I started out reading it with a
dictionary by my side). Not many people recognize the name of my cat. Did I
explain it in the book?

Question: What was your personal involvement in the Sklyarov case?

Torvalds: I avoid very much to get involved into what I call "politics." I'm
a technical guy, and that's what I want to do. So I will definitely not
claim to have been very active personally. I do feel that the electronic
issue of free speech is one of the more important issues we face, and this
year I made a sizable contribution to the EFF (the Electronic Frontier
Foundation), which is the main entity protecting those freedoms (and who
definitely need help. Sadly, protecting people from legal attacks is not
exactly cheap). And I was obviously one of the co-signers on the "Free
Sklyarov" community petition (but there were something like 13,000 other
signers there too.

Question: How do you expect the suit against Microsoft will end, and what
influence will it have on MS, Linux, and the IT industry as a whole?

Torvalds: To me personally, the thing doesn't much matter. I think the main
thing to have come out of the big lawsuit has been to make people aware of
how MS isn't exactly a nice company, but at the same time I'm keeping away
from being one of the MS bashers. Linux didn't start due to any anti-MS
issues, and I still simply don't care about Microsoft.

(read the full interview)
http://newsforge.com/newsforge/02/05/21/0127218.shtml?tid=23