Linus / Tanenbaum, and effective advocacy

[damaged justice <frogfarm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Submitted for your edification and amusement:

Excerpts from the original comp.os.minix thread:
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~perrone/research/feud.html

There are many copies of this; however, a bit more background/explanation
can be found at

Paradigm Shift: Linux Gazette #32
http://www.linuxhq.com/lg/issue32/barr.html

where the author of the article notes Linus's qualities as a Leader, which
notably include his graciousness, tact, rational arguments and good humor:

>   Notice what is missing from the post? Even though his pet project, the
>   fledgling Linux, has been slapped around pretty hard by the man who
>   created its predecessor, Linus did not fall into the trap of name
>   calling and hysterics that too often goes hand-in-glove with online
>   debate.
>
>   Notice what is present in the post? Concession of valid points made by
>   Tanenbaum. Factual assertions that represent Linux quite nicely, thank
>   you very much.

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. Myself, 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. 

Also see

Linux Journal #11, The Humble Beginnings of Linux
http://www.ssc.com/lj/issue11/history.html

wherein the technical origins are explored slightly more in depth than you'll
find in most "brief histories".

-- 
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]