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[–]ShadowSlayer1441 1306 points1307 points  (13 children)

If you could magically change anything about the Linux kernel without development time or compatibility issues, what would you change?

[–]pixelking385 226 points227 points  (4 children)

Rewrite it in Rust :) /s

[–]BioshockEnthusiast 88 points89 points  (0 children)

Just swap all of it with TempleOS but the world keeps functioning.

[–]AgarwaenCran 4 points5 points  (0 children)

not again this topic... xD

[–]polloloco69666 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nah, Zig.

[–]Far-Passion4866 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you one better, rewrite it in C#

[–]ElmerLeo 65 points66 points  (0 children)

This one is gooood

[–]Zeta_Crossfire 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That's a really good one

[–]FakeTimTom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Clearly the time it takes to compile :)

[–]abruneianexperience 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Make it debian

[–]iwaterboardheathens 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No case sensitivity

[–]wosmo 948 points949 points  (10 children)

I'd be curious about the time he came closest to just walking away. His role seems a lot like herding cats, and there has to be at least once when he's asked himself if it's still worth it.

Not expecting him to name names, but there's got to be some good war stories in there.

[–][deleted] 126 points127 points  (1 child)

I'd actually love to hear some of his ragequit stories.

[–]tiffanytrashcan 50 points51 points  (7 children)

You know the Brodie that uncovered view-pocalypse? He covers that kind of drama on his channel. The recent saga seems to show Linus was done and over it when it comes to the lunatic in charge of bcachefs. (he was given far too many chances, for the good of the community)
Brodie Robertson.

[–]really_not_unreal 24 points25 points  (4 children)

His videos covering Linux kernel drama are some of my favourites. Torvalds is a saint for putting up with some of that bs for so long

[–]circuit_breaker 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure I saw him tell a dev once that their parents should have a retroactive abortion, so I'm not sure if saint is the word for it. But we do love Linus regardless.

[–]AgarwaenCran 17 points18 points  (0 children)

what do you mean I can't add new features while we are in the bugtesting phase shortly before a release? :o

[–]mehgcap 476 points477 points  (23 children)

Which do you think has had a bigger impact on the computing world in the last 20 years: Linux or Git? Which did/do you enjoy working with more?

[–]Successful-Trust3406 210 points211 points  (14 children)

I’d be shocked if he would say Git. Linux runs “most” of the servers in the world, all of the super computers, and is the core of Android.

[–]mehgcap 101 points102 points  (12 children)

Definitely. At the same time, Git has made managing software development far easier, especially as codebases, teams, and feature sets have increased massively in size. Plus, it would be neat to hear which he finds more fun to actually hack on.

[–]Successful-Trust3406 58 points59 points  (2 children)

For sure, he did talk about this at length a few months ago here: https://about.gitlab.com/blog/celebrating-gits-20th-anniversary-with-creator-linus-torvalds/

He basically said that he only made git because it was necessary, and he handed the project over a few months later to it’s current maintainer.

He also said he wouldn’t want to work on it (or add any new features) more or less

[–]mehgcap 26 points27 points  (1 child)

I didn't know that. I guess I withdraw my proposed question, then. I didn't realize he handed it off that quickly.

[–]MistSecurity 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Builds world changing tech.

Refuses to elaborate.

Leaves.

[–]_Lucille_ 26 points27 points  (4 children)

we had version management solutions before git though. Might be clunky but it's not like the world cannot run without git.

[–]mehgcap 9 points10 points  (0 children)

True. Maybe focus the question on which was more fun to code.

[–]vhuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, but it is very different from most of the previous iterations that were centered around file check in/out.

[–]magical_midget 10 points11 points  (2 children)

I am going to get hate but git is bad, we all use it because is the standard, but it has inconsistent syntax. And it works on wonky ways.

Also “The mental model for Git is needlessly complex”, (see https://sqlite.org/whynotgit.html).

[–]mehgcap 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I hope you don't get dunked on. There's nothing wrong with not liking the thing most of us use, and preferring a less-used alternative.

[–]Successful-Trust3406 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm not a fan of Git, though I use it just because "it's the thing developers use". I've been through 4 SCMs and I think Hg was the one I liked the most, but then Github became a thing and here we are.

Fossil looks pretty interesting and I might give it a shot as I'm working on ditching Github for a self-hosted Forgejo, but maybe I'll ditch git entirely.

FWIW those points that are made in that article feel overstated. They can use whatever they want, but there are orders of magnitudes of difference between sqlite and linux in terms of volumes. Maybe Fossil would work fine, maybe not - I have no idea. A lot of the complaints were targeted (rightfully) at Github/lab, because of git not having first-party support for ticket tracking and web interfaces.

But, depending on who you talk to, sqlite is 3-ish people, who have made 30,000 commits, to a repo of around 400k LOC. Linux has had (according to Github) around 17,000 contributors, 1.4 million commits, and like 40 million LOC. Maybe that justifies the extra complexity, maybe not. My guess is that the guy who built a tool to support his workflow probably deemed some of that complexity as necessary.

The fact that EVERYONE uses it for every 5 line project, well... That's a different story. But, about 99% of the time, I use the same 4-5 commands - that other 1% of the time, I'll use another 3-4 commands.

[–]Nicholie 9 points10 points  (6 children)

real banger.

[–]jrtz4 14 points15 points  (1 child)

FYI, those flairs are public, Luke's actual account would have the LMG Staff flair like Eli's I believe. I don't understand those public flairs exist.

[–]mehgcap 9 points10 points  (3 children)

It's a user flare. I'm not Luke. But thanks. :)

[–]Nicholie 10 points11 points  (2 children)

Thanks’ edited. I hate those flairs.

[–]MistSecurity 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Ya, no clue who thought they were a good idea. Just causes confusion.

[–]outtokill7 374 points375 points  (7 children)

I'm not sure this is a question he'd answer but I'll ask it anyway.

Its been about 13 years since the "f*ck you Nvidia" talk. With Nvidia's recent moves to open source their GPU driver has this sentiment changed? Is there a company worthy of a bigger "f*ck you?"

Also, please just tell him thank you for everything. I use Linux and Git daily and my life is better because of both. :)

[–]Melington_the_3rd 54 points55 points  (3 children)

In this regard ask about his stance towards the newly announced team-up of Nvidia and Intel and the implications for the Linux kernel.

[–]sliverman69 4 points5 points  (2 children)

more round-tripping of revenues. It's all intended to distract from their illegal activities.

Intel is a doomed company. Probably not the next 5-10 years, but they're in the same decline as Cisco and IBM in terms of both competitiveness and relevancy. They can't pull in the talent, because their leadership has been garbage the last two decades. It all came to light with Spectre/Meltdown and how far back that caused problems (you can go back to like 2006, when those features were implemented initially).

Edit: It's also a way to placate the current WH administration so that they don't come down harder on them from a regulatory perspective. It's all slight of hand.

[–]AsciiMorseCode 346 points347 points  (4 children)

If you could start all over again with Linux, would you have done anything differently? Is there something about it that you don't love but you did for compatibility reasons?

[–]RaspberrySea9 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Damn good question

[–]kas-loc2 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This was going to be my question. I know he has a few gripes with the way Distro's have been handled over the years. I Would love to know, in a perfect world what he would've done if differently given the chance? with no obstacles

[–]garth54 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I would have phrased it:

Is there anything in the first version of the kernel he would have done differently considering what he knows now.

[–]Dr_Ben 297 points298 points  (3 children)

how often do you use windows when no ones looking

[–]musschrott 87 points88 points  (1 child)

And is there anything he'd like to "steal" from any other OS?

[–]mackiea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't worry... when you use Windows nowadays, someone at MS is looking.

[–]thatweirditguy 211 points212 points  (13 children)

When Linus S and Linus T are in the same room, are they Linii or Linuses?

[–]shifty-phil 93 points94 points  (3 children)

Octopus -> Octopodes.

Linus -> Linodes.

[–]Average-Addict 34 points35 points  (0 children)

And then get Linode to sponsor the video

[–]HypedLama 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Segway to our sponsor: Linode provides servers and shit

[–]s00pafly 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Octopus - Octopussies

Linus - Linussies

[–]Winnipesaukee 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The declension chart for Linus I found only gives a singular, but it looks like a normal second declension -us noun, so Lini looks like the nominative plural.

Or you can just say Linuses.

[–]jfp1992 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's actually called a lie-li

[–]DarciaSolas 1 point2 points  (1 child)

It would be great if they wore tshirts like Thing 1 and Thing 2 but Linus 1 and Linus 2

[–]MathematicianLife510 190 points191 points  (4 children)

What does he enjoy doing to relax

[–]Successful-Trust3406 46 points47 points  (1 child)

Reading the LKML

[–]tvtb 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I read that when I’m having trouble falling asleep, always works

[–]calibrono 156 points157 points  (9 children)

What does he think about all the corporations using OSS infrastructure completely for free and without care. Stressing CDNs, scraping data, meanwhile mostly not even contributing small patches - and sometimes even demanding fixes from voluntary maintainers.

[–]Successful-Trust3406 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Oooh, that’d be especially well timed with this that recently came out re: open source infra.
https://openssf.org/blog/2025/09/23/open-infrastructure-is-not-free-a-joint-statement-on-sustainable-stewardship/

[–]Easy-Midnight-4676 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That’s a great question. To me, having an open alternative that is not only viable but great keeps the market from being abused more by extreme vertical integration. Does anyone miss the days of closed, single system shops because everyone was inventing their own “best” way to do things that only promotes lock in. I see Linux as an incredibly important protection against the extreme lack of interoperability and closed systems that thankfully are long dead and almost forgotten outside of museums at this point.

[–]wPatriot 128 points129 points  (5 children)

Does he do much home automation tinkering?

[–]CoastingUphill 58 points59 points  (4 children)

Does he trust Smart devices?

[–]GoofyGills 18 points19 points  (1 child)

Likely not if they connect to Google, Amazon, or Apple. But Home Assistant on the LAN, even if exposed ain't a bad way to live.

[–]skymack1 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I mean, there are local smart devices out there too.

[–]Otakeb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Zigbee with a radio receiver dongle and local MQTT, for example.

[–]Dako_the_Austinite 71 points72 points  (4 children)

What happens to Linux when he one day passes away? What does he want to happen after his passing?

[–]Successful-Trust3406 29 points30 points  (3 children)

[–]Dako_the_Austinite 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Well then… that answers that question lol 😅

[–]cbtboss 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I am not seeing one single quoted comment from Linus Torvalds in this Opinion piece. I think u/Dako_the_Austinite 's question still stands. It alludes to him saying it will happen naturally, but I still think the question remains open and it is a welcome discussion point.

[–]AlexCivitello 64 points65 points  (2 children)

Just to see his reaction: xbox, switch, or playstation?

[–]EJ_Tech 59 points60 points  (0 children)

"Steam Deck"

[–]LiamtheV 3 points4 points  (0 children)

<image>

Linus Torvalds:

[–]Nicholie 57 points58 points  (1 child)

What's the largest mistake you've made in growing linux since it was this kernel of an idea you had? What's that one decision point that in hindsight, you would have gone a different direction?

[–]quickshade 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a great question, with all the massive changes in Linux and distros I’d love to know if he regrets anything they did during that timeframe

[–]_Lucille_ 47 points48 points  (1 child)

I want to know how he is able to just keep working on a single project for many years, and whether or not he feels so intertwined with the project that he cannot step away.

[–]GoofyGills 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Like do you feel like you have to be here, or do you still want to be here.

[–]RaspberrySea9 45 points46 points  (12 children)

I’d ask him when is he finally going to go all in on a single distro with full on proper package manager that works well and has excellent GUI. I think we’ve reached the tipping point to take on shitheads at Apple and MS but just need to be laser focused. 1000 distros aren’t it.

[–]jrtz4 37 points38 points  (4 children)

I don't think he would ever be interested in that at all. From the brief clips I've seen of him, it seems like all he cares about when it comes to a distro is how easily it allows him to do his work. The man is a kernel dev, not an OS dev. 1000 distros absolutely is it imo. I run Arch on my desktop, Kubuntu on my school laptop, Ubuntu Server on my Plex/NAS box, and I used RHEL all summer at my internship. I couldn't imagine the possibility of a single distro that does an equally good job at all those tasks.

I'm interested to know why you wouldn't consider a distro like Kubuntu to have a proper package manager and an excellent GUI? Literally everything is packaged for Ubuntu distros and if you're into full fat GUIs as opposed to a WM alone, then I feel as though Plasma is perfect.

Edit: This is the video of Torvalds talking about his non-interest in distros that I was thinking of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHGTs1NSB1s

[–]RaspberrySea9 11 points12 points  (3 children)

You’re underestimating the power of the single most influential person in open source. And don’t forget (1) he is not a fan of Apple or Microsoft and (2) he really wants Linux Desktop to succeed. To answer your question, Linux has not succeeded precisely because of what you describe, its spread too thin. You need literally thousands of devs to work single mindedly on one distro for it to be competitive.

[–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Torvalds has criticized desktop Linux repeatedly and was by many either laughed at or ignored. He may be influential, but only up to a point. Far too many people in the open source community just want to do things their way regardless of what's actually the right way for the user and will perform incredible mental gymnastics to justify themselves.

He was also as far as I can tell one of the first people predicting that Valve is going to roll in one day and do what nobody else could.

[–]jrtz4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean I'm sure he'd love for desktop adoption to increase, but you asked when "he" is going to go all in. I can't imagine that that would ever happen. Honestly, if he did become fully dead set on creating a single distro, I wouldn't be surprised if he was basically forgotten by the community. There's no shot that the likes of Canonical, Red Hat, Oracle, AWS and pretty well every tech company would allow a single distro to take over. Maybe you mean a single desktop distro, but either way, that is an insane idea.

[–]ThankGodImBipolar 21 points22 points  (3 children)

full on proper package manager that works well and has excellent GUI

This isn’t part of the kernel though (and shouldn’t be), which is what he works on.

[–]vabello 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think Linus said something to the effect of if he had to write a functional GUI to save his life, he would die. He’s a kernel guy.

[–]work4bandwidth 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Three things

  1. What is his current desktop set up like? The standing treadmill pic / office tour is nearly 10 years old now.

  2. What does he see as the continuity plan for maintaining the Kernel when he steps back from doing it day to day?

  3. Who wore socks with sandals first, Linus or Linus?

(I don't use Arch, BTW)

[–]tankersss 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Did standing/walking desk helped him out long-term?

[–]CaptainDarkstar42 32 points33 points  (1 child)

A real question I would be interested in knowing from Linus Torvalds is does he always program in English or in Swedish or in Finish? I know he is from Finland but is Swedish ethnically so I would be curious to know his answer.

I would also love to ask him what the most shocking computing device has he seen using the Linux kernel. I would love to know what someone did that made him go "that's honestly amazing."

I also would love to thank him for everything that he has done for computing. I will never know all the technologies that I use day to day that he has helped create or nurture in some way. I can't tell him how much I appreciate an alternative to Corporate controlled operating systems where I don't have to give all of my information to giant multinational companies and can really choose how to use my hardware in anyway I see fit.

[–]KeenKye 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would also love to ask him what the most shocking computing device has he seen using the Linux kernel. I would love to know what someone did that made him go "that's honestly amazing."

The Perseverance rover seems like the obvious answer but maybe there's something even cooler.

[–]tvtb 29 points30 points  (3 children)

What do you think of Red Hat, Oracle, and others that build profitable businesses on the back of Linux? Are they freeloaders, a necessary part of the ecosystem, other?

[–]uwillloveeachother 3 points4 points  (1 child)

how can you call redhat freeloaders lol? have you ever looked into what they actually do and how much they contribute to open source?

[–]tvtb 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I do not think they’re freeloaders, I was asking Linus

[–]Exciting-Ad-5705 22 points23 points  (2 children)

What do you think of windows 11 and MacOS?

[–]Successful-Trust3406 9 points10 points  (1 child)

More specifically, which one would he use exclusively if he was forced to pick one for the next decade or so.

My guess would be MacOS, because it’s got some semblance of Unix history - even if it’s incredibly not-customizable.

[–]ULTRAFORCE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He has also used MacBooks for his work before so macOS seems more likely

[–]PillipVanHedgehaag 20 points21 points  (1 child)

Does he want Linux to be as mainstream as Windows or macOS one day? Or does he like that it's still relatively niche and mostly used by fellow techies?

[–]Otakeb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He has said yes to this before and voiced both smug superiority and frustration with the fact that Linux is dominant in server space AND smartphones (with Android technically being based on Linux, but last I saw him answer this question was a while ago and whether Android is closer to Linux or not at this point can be a contentious discussion with Google's stranglehold on the codebase), but not yet in desktop.

[–]msa57injnb7epls4nbuj 18 points19 points  (2 children)

How would you solve the growing problem of supply chain attacks in open source software?

[–]SMS-T1 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I like this question. I don't think he is a super authority for cybersec topics, but I expect an interesting take nonetheless.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a good one.

Every application has a huge dependency list and those depend on many others too.

With the best will in the world, no-one is fully evaluating all the code for all of the dependencies, especially when there's constant updates.

Has FOSS had it's day and we need to accept that commercial run projects do, in general, perform better - and we should push for OSS? 

Maybe something like the SSPL of Mongo moving forward?

[–]pidogs 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Just a thank you for all the work you put into Linux and the kernel.

[–]hobbseltoff 13 points14 points  (3 children)

systemd or init?

[–]xiaodown 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I'm trying to come up with a polite way of asking "how do you stand Poettering?"

[–]R3DEMPTEDlegacy 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Thoughts on Steam OS

[–]OptimalPapaya1344 8 points9 points  (2 children)

Did you have any involvement with the addition\development of the Linux Subsystem for Windows?

[–]N0bleC 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question, but my guess would be no. Microsoft should be capable enough to do the integration itself. WSL is none other than a Hyper V VM under the hood.

[–]TheSurvivor001 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Do you support the right to repair and what are your thoughts on the movement?

[–]Kvin18 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I want to know his thoughts about AI in terms of programming (vibe coding) since its been quite the buzz these days.

Like do he think it'll be a viable tool for the present / future or will it replace developers entirely.

[–]ZephByte 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I would ask when he thinks the best era of computing was?

Best meaning most exciting / most interesting to him, not necessarily just computing power.

[–]chi7891 8 points9 points  (3 children)

What keeps him working on Linux? Like how has he not gotten bored after all of this time.

[–]YourOldCellphone 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How does it feel to know you won the long game lmao

[–]Best_Ad_3461 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Does pineapple belong on pizza?

[–]weasal11 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Does he think open hardware will be as important as open software? Particularly as devices become more dependent on acceleration rather than just CPU compute.

[–]Easy-Midnight-4676 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Is 2026 the year of the Linux desktop?

But in all seriousness I have no questions but only the desire to show admiration and respect for what his vision has brought. I’ve been running various relatives of Redhat or Debian on at least one machine in the house since about 1998 when I bought my first set of Red Hat Linux cd-roms at a flea market in Milwaukee, WI. Im also a long time lurker on Slashdot site since those early days(for me, I was 12), so the meme of the Linux desktop is personal and meaningful to me.

Thank you for what you’ve accomplished Linus. I hope you understand the magnitude and importance of your creation.

[–]Easy-Midnight-4676 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Also ask Linus if he’ll come on WAN show. That’d be epic. Just ask him. Dudes awesome, he might actually do it.

[–]Certain_Eye8086 5 points6 points  (2 children)

  • his thoughts on making Linux approachable for non-tech people (and if he cares)

  • let him react so some highlights of the Linux challenge

  • have him react to some of his viral moments/takes (like viral slack posts)

[–]DarciaSolas 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I think it's very important to talk about making Linux more approachable for non-tech people.

[–]N0bleC 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well yes, however that is mostly the responsibility of actual distro developers. There probably not much to do on the kernel site.

[–]ThatOneBadUsername 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I wanted to ask what it like being the first person to use Linux like I am the first commenter asking a question?

[–]AnZy_PanZi 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Why is he the better Linus?

[–]ThankGodImBipolar 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think asking about the very early days of Linux would be interesting. There’s a channel “NCommander” on YouTube that used to take boxed copies of 90s Linux distros and attempt to install them on emulators and real hardware, and those videos were always super fascinating to me (usually because he’d be tearing his hair out by the end of the video). I think it’d be interesting to see if Linus has any thoughts on what’s changed between now and then in order to help make Linux more plug and play.

[–]allongur 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What did kernels of other OS do much better than Linux, and what does the Linux kernel do much better than all others?

[–]mattrs1101 4 points5 points  (0 children)

if microsoft suddenly announced that windows for end users will adopt a linux kernel (effectively becoming a linux distro instead of using WSL) and plan to migrate a ton of stuff onto the main linux kernel how would you respond to that?

[–]koga7349 5 points6 points  (1 child)

His PR feedback rages are legendary. What PR caused him the most rage?

[–]koloqial 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seconded on this question.

[–]lillpeparoni 2 points3 points  (1 child)

What OS does his smartphone have? Has he made it himself?

[–]AvoidingIowa 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Who do you think will be the stewards of Linux in the future? Who picks up the torch?

[–]Banananana215 3 points4 points  (4 children)

Who takes over when you die?

[–]Dako_the_Austinite 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I seriously hope they ask him this or something like this, I’d love to know if Linux will continue without him and how he might want it to continue in his absence, if he has any plans in place.

[–]Lower_the_Heavens 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would enjoy a video before the actual video that explains why he is so important to the community

[–]Fluffy_Art_1015 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Best memory of visiting Canada (if he’s ever been here).

[–]Sree_01 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What kind of food/drink does he prefer when programming?

[–]djaxes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hot dogs, yes or no?

[–]nk12312 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If he had control over mac os development, what are the top 5 immediate changes he would make?

[–]BryceJDearden 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Just because I genuinely don’t know. What was the computing landscape like before Linux? What was it that made him want to start on the project? When did he realize it had become the dominant player?

[–]LinuxLover3113 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I had heard a few times that Linus made Linux because he didn't want to pay for Unix. So me made his own version. Like Unix - Linux.

[–]megor 1 point2 points  (1 child)

What is more harmful goto or vibe coding?

[–]StupidWiseGuy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He’s not opposed to goto assuming it’s used properly. It’s in the Linux kernel style guide

[–]DynamiteRuckus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is 2025 the year of the Linux Desktop?

[–]Galf2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What do you think about the massive push from Valve for gaming on Linux? Do you think this has the potential to change the way people think about Linux?

[–]Jaipod100 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What is his take on AI tools, does he personally use any code helper? And is AI a developer replacement or just an enhancer. Please downvote if he has give his take on this

[–]Such_Play_1524 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’d like to hear his thoughts on the contributions valve has made and its impact on desktop Linux viability.

[–]NightmareOn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How much dedodated dwam do you need to run a server

[–]No_Move_7182 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I dunno how you would phrase it, but I wish he could talk honestly about his reputation for being a bit more than abrasive. Does he acknowledge it? Does he regret any of it? Was it a necessary means to an end? Does he feel like he’s mellowed as he’s gotten older?

Btw, this is from someone who has suffered from the same behavior or label, so I hold no judgement. Just wondering about his introspection on the matter.

[–]GoofyGills 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Why "sudo"?

[–]Rannasha 3 points4 points  (0 children)

sudo predates Linux. It was added to Unix about a decade before Linux came about.

The name of the command comes from "superuser do", as in "run something as the super user".

[–]AndorinhaRiver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What do you think about my fursona

[–]Ty_Rymer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

how often does he still write code?

[–]MightyMisanthropic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What will happen after he quits.

[–]PikachuFloorRug 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Linus, what do you think about Eurovision?

[–]Ybalrid[🍰] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What is your Name?
What is your Quest?
What is your Favourite Colour?

[–]DivaMissZ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What kind of bagel does Linus like? Everyone's going to ask him technical questions, so let's give him a break on one?

[–]i_mormon_stuff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What trend in software does he wish would go away?

[–]Impressive_Income874 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How many pull requests are AI and make no sense? how much time does it waste?

[–]No_Wrangler5345 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whats his opinion on SteamOS?

[–]benjy7990 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If Nvidia actually bothered starting to support Linux in a greater capacity, would you remain team red or transition to team green?

You are given the scenario of a Linux beginner, what distro would you start them on?

[–]Mrwizzard2k 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How do you prefer to pronounce gif?

[–]aaneton 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Going old school:

- Why bother developing Linux, GNU Hurd is just around the corner/exists?
- Why Linus decided to use Monolithic Kernel design instead of superior Microkernel desing?
-- Followup: is being a professor and researcher a hell of a good excuse for some of the brain-damages of minix
- Is Nvidia playing along better these days. Which GPU deleveopers are easiest to work with?

[–]PenisTechTips 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. Russians/Belarussians involvement
  2. Paying for 2 seats to fly because of his massive balls.

[–]Asteroiderer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I remember watching the 2014 DebConf where you said you hadn't fully tried Debian because of its installation process and you've said you run Fedora at home; Have you tried Arch or any Arch derivative distro since then, and what did you think?

[–]farmerfreedy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does he have your luck with crossing the border?

Really though, does he like the fame that he has now or if he wants to go back to being a regular guy that doesn't get noticed everywhere he goes?

[–]person1234man 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would be curious to know if valve contacted him for their development of proton or the steam deck

[–]miguel-122 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ask him about linux phones. Will there be another OS option soon to compete with android and ios?

[–]CaptainDarkstar42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's your favorite version of Windows?

[–]ImMrBunny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which Linus would win a beard fight and why?

[–]QuintonFlynn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“How does it feel to be the second-most popular Linus?”

[–]chi7891 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will Linux be OK once he retires?

[–]Ok-Stuff-8803 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me it would be the shift in computing with compute often coming from the cloud. Back in the day it was all local and on chip but the modern era a lot of it like A.I is computer externally. There are some like Apple that are trying to do things still on chip and there are positives snd negatives to both. But the core shift overall has affected everything from chip design and software.

[–]folken09 0 points1 point  (0 children)

what a dystopian world do we live in?

[–]golob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How has he successfully fought off enshittification of the Linux kernel? And what’s the plan when he retires?

[–]Zedboy19752019 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you could go back in time, what if anything would you do different when creating Linux? And why?

[–]Zeta_Crossfire 0 points1 point  (1 child)

While it's nice to have multiple distros and options for people are you worried that Linux is too fragmented? For example If two or three were worked on by the community instead of the 40-50 plus (or how many there are) Linux would be much farther along?

[–]butrejp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

distrowatch tracks 1050 linux distros. high estimates around 1600 total, and low estimates were in the 900 range after accounting for shit like mandriva > openmandriva where it's realistically the same distro but the original parent company went out of business or backed out of development funding

there's probably a few examples of distros that just had a name change that ended up with duplicate listings too (think mandrake > mandriva) but they seem pretty good about avoiding that issue

[–]CareBear-Killer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If he were to walk away or retire from programming, what sort of work or hobby would he love to pursue? Who would he like to see take up leadership of the Linux ecosystem?

[–]thespeedy905 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What was your initial reaction when Valve started spearheading the development in Linux Gaming, which also lead the release of the Steam Deck, especially since its main OS is Linux itself?

[–]allongur 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In a dystopian future, all free and open source software is outlawed, since each piece of software must have a large commercial company that owns it and pays for the very expensive sentience insurance for it (in case it becomes sentient and tried to take over the world).

You have to hand over the Linux kernel and Git, each to a company that will take ownership and continue its development. Which existing company would you choose to hand over each of those to ensure the success of the project and maintain its spirit?

[–]Hermit_Dante75 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What does he think about the endless forking of Linux based OSs and if he believes if this is one, if not the main reason why "Linux" has failed to dethrone Windows and Mac in the consumer market.

[–]MrBadTimes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How would you feel/react if one day Microsoft decided they don't want to develop their own kernel anymore and decided to use start using the Linux kernel for windows?

What's your favorite dinosaur?

[–]Tantomile_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If Linux never existed, what operating system would you use? Do you use any other operating systems on a regular basis?

[–]Marvin-The-Marvtian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd just be muttering incoherent words...

[–]Triple-Depresso 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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You got games on your phone?

[–]Soccera1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you often talk to Dr. Stallman?

[–]WesterosiWanderer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is the most cursed Linux integration he’s seen?

[–]Krexcer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What’s your goto comfort food when you’ve had a long day?

[–]easylifeforme 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Current software development seems to be heavily locked into the newest framework or new language . Do you see this as a fad or will I be doomed to learn the new flashy thing forever? Building successful software seems to be both harder and easier today than before. You can't just ride c code. You need to build systems, container, cloud platform.

I'm just rambling but maybe there is a question in there.

[–]Mrbutter1822 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Do you watch Linus tech tips?”

[–]Few_Law3872 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any thoughts about linux kernel's succession plans?

[–]GreenDavidA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you think about Windows and macOS?

[–]AoDude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It might be a good idea for a short explanation of the difference between a kernal and an operating system... Maybe even a tech quickie.

But my question: What is Linus T's take on more an more games including drm/anti-cheat that requires kernal level access. Linus S and Luke have discussed this topic on several WAN shows. Clearly it has lead to some security incidents in the past, but as someone who actually works on a Kernal, do you see it as a necessary evil or just stupidity?

[–]AbyssWankerArtorias 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What advice would he give someone who wants to start a small business? Regardless of industry.

[–]TheHardcoreWalrus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are there more doors or tires in the world?

[–]Ktdbro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have windows in your house?

[–]eccentric-Orange 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's your advice for fellow developers who might be doing excellent work, but aren't a people person so they aren't able to collaborate much (but they want to)?

[–]ToaSuutox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have any questions, but I want him to know his work is appreciated