Re: Linus / Tanenbaum, and effective advocacy

["Robert G. Brown" <bob@xxxxxxx>]

>Submitted for your edification and amusement:
[addittional mention of link removed]
>where the author of the article notes Linus's qualities as a Leader, which
>notably include his graciousness, tact, rational arguments and good humor:
On one level, it's a technical discussion between teacher and student, and on
the other hand a public stress test of professionals under pressure. Note that
the rendition of this thread in "Open Sources" is more complete than the URL
cited, but may not provide more insight.

>Linus's keynote address at Comdex may have seemed overly critical of Microsoft
>or even gratuitously insulting to some -- I noticed a few posters on LinuxToday
>with attitudes similar to the SCO guy's recent unfortunate "punk kids" remark,
>who seemed to take Linus's comments as evidence of his immaturity. 
Almost anything said about Linux from SCO is suspect. If you think Linux is
slowing down MS in some areas, then understand it's simply KILLING most of
the market for SCO. Fortunately or not, the attitude of the creator of an OS
rarely determines the fate of the system. "Immaturity", like "Enterprise-Ready"
means different things to different people.

>I interpreted his joking as a symptom of the growing confidence he has in
>Linux. He's still humble, he's just a little less humble. He doesn't hesitate 
>to point out Linux's shortcomings, such as those noted in NTmag, but always 
>comes across as fully confident that those problems can, and will be, fixed. 
[another URL removed]
I cannot presume to speak for LT, or even in his "defense".... HOWEVER,
Having gone through times when software I created was used by large numbers of 
people (and still is), I know that there is a sense of rightness, perhaps even 
arrogance, that can grow from that. LT started, and has nurtured right along, 
one of the most successful OS'es in history (even if no one else ever gets 
converted to Linux from this moment onwards, it's STILL true). He has a right
to be proud of the results of his efforts (in both engineering and management);
sometimes that shows. It's hard to say more without knowing the man better; the
most seriously critical comments that I've seen/heard from LT about MS is that 
he feels MS work lacks "class", which by context I interpret as good engineer-
ing and craftsmanship. This sounds about dead-on to me, and not evidence of 
either immaturity or arrogance.

                                                     ---> RGB <---


>I let go of the law, and people become honest /  I let go of economics, and
>people become prosperous / I let go of religion, and people become serene /
>I let go of all desire for the common good,  and the good becomes common as
>grass.    .oOo.    [Tao Te Ching, Chapter 57, Stephen Mitchell translation]

"The day may dawn when fair play, love for one's fellow man, respect for
justice and freedom will enable tormented generations to march forth serene
and triumphant from the hideous epoch in which we have to dwell.

Meanwhile, never flinch, never weary, never despair."

                                                   Winston Churchill,
                                                   March 1, 1995
                                                   at the House of Commons