I think, fundamentally, open source does tend to be more stable software. It’s the right way to do things. — Linus Torvalds

People will realize that software is not a product; you use it to build a product. — Linus Torvalds

I think that freely available software can not only keep up with the evolution of commercial software, but often exceed what you can do commercially. — Linus Torvalds

I obviously think that freely available software can not only keep up with the evolution of commercial software, but often exceed what you can do commercially. — Linus Torvalds

Software is like sex: It’s better when it’s free. — Linus Torvalds

Shareware tends to combine the worst of commercial software with the worst of free software. — Linus Torvalds

People enjoy the interaction on the Internet, and the feeling of belonging to a group that does something interesting: that’s how some software projects are born. — Linus Torvalds

With software, you really can replicate and do a lot of very real and active development in parallel, and actually try it out and see what works. — Linus Torvalds

Hey, I’m a good software engineer, but I’m not exactly known for my fashion sense. White socks and sandals don’t translate to ‘good design sense’. — Linus Torvalds

Talk is cheap. Show me the code. — Linus Torvalds

Portability is for people who cannot write new programs. — Linus Torvalds

Most good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program. — Linus Torvalds

If you want an application to be portable, you don’t necessarily create an abstraction layer like a microkernel so much as you program intelligently. — Linus Torvalds

An infinite number of monkeys typing into GNU emacs would never make a good program. — Linus Torvalds

I think Leopard is a much better system [than Windows Vista] but OS X in some ways is actually worse than Windows to program for. Their file system is complete and utter crap, which is scary. — Linus Torvalds

In many cases the user interface to a program is the most important part for a commercial company: whether the programs works correctly or not seems to be secondary. — Linus Torvalds

When it comes to software, I much prefer free software, because I have very seldom seen a program that has worked well enough for my needs, and having sources available can be a life–saver. — Linus Torvalds

It was such a relief to program in user mode for a change. Not having to care about the small stuff is wonderful. — Linus Torvalds

The thing with Linux is that the developers themselves are actually customers too: that has always been an important part of Linux. — Linus Torvalds

Linux has definitely made a lot of sense even in a purely materialistic sense. — Linus Torvalds

I don’t think commercialization is the answer to anything. It’s just one more facet of Linux, and not the deciding one by any means. — Linus Torvalds

I do get my pizzas paid for by Linux indirectly. — Linus Torvalds

We all know Linux is great…it does infinite loops in 5 seconds. — Linus Torvalds

I’m interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn’t started as any kind of rebellion against the ‘evil Microsoft empire.’ — Linus Torvalds

Me trying to make a business around Linux would have been a total disaster. — Linus Torvalds

If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I’ve won. — Linus Torvalds

Part of doing Linux was that I had to communicate a lot more instead of just being a geek in front of a computer. — Linus Torvalds

The cyberspace ‘earnings’ I get from Linux come in the format of having a Network of people that know me and trust me, and that I can depend on in return. — Linus Torvalds

Before the commercial ventures, Linux tended to be rather hard to set up, because most of the developers were motivated mainly by their own interests. — Linus Torvalds

Ok, I admit it. I was just a front–man for the real fathers of Linux, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. — Linus Torvalds

I don’t try to be a threat to MicroSoft, mainly because I don’t really see MS as competition. Especially not Windows–the goals of Linux and Windows are simply so different. — Linus Torvalds

I don’t have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I’m doing. — Linus Torvalds

The Linux philosophy is ‘laugh in the face of danger’. Oops. Wrong one. ‘Do it yourself’. That’s it. — Linus Torvalds

One of the reasons that I really don’t mind that people are selling Linux commercially is exactly because it does make me feel good that people use the product. — Linus Torvalds

What commercialism has brought to Linux has been the incentive to make a good distribution that is easy to use and that has all the packaging issues worked out. — Linus Torvalds

There are lots of Linux users who don’t care how the kernel works, but only want to use it. That is a tribute to how good Linux is. — Linus Torvalds

I get the biggest enjoyment from the random and unexpected places. Linux on cellphones or refrigerators, just because it’s so not what I envisioned it. Or on supercomputers. — Linus Torvalds

That’s what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It’s a positive feedback cycle. — Linus Torvalds

I never felt that the naming issue was all that important, but I was obviously wrong, judging by how many people felt. I tell people to call it just plain Linux and nothing more. — Linus Torvalds

I personally think of Linux development as being pretty non–localized, and I work with all the people entirely over e–mail–even if they happen to be working in the Portland area. — Linus Torvalds

So I decided that if the architecture is fundamentally sane enough, say it follows some basic rules like it supported paging , then I would be able to say, yes, Linux fundamentally supports that model. — Linus Torvalds

I don’t expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places. — Linus Torvalds

What I find most interesting is how people really have taken Linux and used it in ways and attributes and motivations that I never felt. — Linus Torvalds

Non–technical questions sometimes don’t have an answer at all. — Linus Torvalds

I’m a technical manager, but I don’t have to take care of people. I only have to worry about technology itself. — Linus Torvalds

On a purely technical side, I’m really very happy with how Linux gets used in a very wide set of different areas. It’s important for development. — Linus Torvalds

In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But when I’m talking to journalists I just say ‘programmer’ or something like that. — Linus Torvalds

Being open source meant that I could work on the technical side (along with lots of other people), and others who had the interest and inclination could start up companies around it. — Linus Torvalds

See, you not only have to be a good coder to create a system like Linux, you have to be a sneaky bastard too. — Linus Torvalds

Microsoft isn’t evil, they just make really crappy operating systems. — Linus Torvalds

There’s innovation in Linux. There are some really good technical features that I’m proud of. There are capabilities in Linux that aren’t in other operating systems. — Linus Torvalds

I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) at clones. — Linus Torvalds

Software patents, in particular, are very ripe for abuse. The whole system encourages big corporations getting thousands and thousands of patents. Individuals almost never get them. — Linus Torvalds

When you say ‘I wrote a program that crashed Windows,’ people just stare at you blankly and say ‘Hey, I got those with the system, for free.’ — Linus Torvalds

If you want to travel around the world and be invited to speak at a lot of different places, just write a Unix operating system. — Linus Torvalds

I started Linux as a desktop operating system. And it’s the only area where Linux hasn’t completely taken over. That just annoys the hell out of me. — Linus Torvalds

I am very happy about Android obviously. I use Android, and it’s actually made cellphones very usable. — Linus Torvalds

I actually think that I’m a rather optimistic and happy person; it’s just that I’m not a very positive person, if you see the difference. — Linus Torvalds

I’ve been employed by the University of Helsinki, and they’ve been perfectly happy to keep me employed and doing Linux. — Linus Torvalds

I’m perfectly happy complaining, because it’s cathartic, and I’m perfectly happy arguing with people on the Internet because arguing is my favourite pastime–not programming. — Linus Torvalds

I am not a visionary. I’m an engineer. I’m happy with the people who are wandering around looking at the stars but I am looking at the ground and I want to fix the pothole before I fall in. — Linus Torvalds

Artists usually don’t make all that much money, and they often keep their artistic hobby despite the money rather than due to it. — Linus Torvalds

Bill Gates really seems to be much more of a business man than a technologist, while I prefer to think of Linux in technical terms rather than as a means to money. — Linus Torvalds

While I may not get any money from Linux, I get a huge personal satisfaction from having written something that people really enjoy using, and that people find to be the best alternative for their needs. — Linus Torvalds

I’ve actually found the image of Silicon Valley as a hotbed of money–grubbing tech people to be pretty false, but maybe that’s because the people I hang out with are all really engineers. — Linus Torvalds

So I’ve decided to be a very rich and famous person who doesn’t really care about money, and who is very humble but who still makes a lot of money and is very famous, but is very humble and rich and famous. — Linus Torvalds