Did Linus Torvalds sell out?

[Ghost]

Not wanting to start rumors, but I read that Linus Torvalds got a piece of the action when RedHat went public.<br><br>Is this true, and if so how much money did he get?<br><br>Also, are there others who raised their eyebrows about big $ changing hands?&nbsp;&nbsp;I mean, he got the money, but what did he give up?&nbsp;&nbsp;Did he sell out his own creation?<br><br>Is he going to take money from Caldera too?&nbsp;&nbsp;Everyone complains about Microsoft and money driving their interests, but atleast you know where they get theirs and why.<br><br>If he didn't get money, than I apologize for this post.<br><br>Ghost

 

[Ghost]

Well, curiosity got the better of me today so I went looking on the Internet to see if (and from who and how much) he has taken money.<br><br>Didn't find any dollar figures yet, but from the Red Hat site there is a link to this article:<br><br>&quot;....<br><br>One of the things Torvalds puts in the ``what I don't do'' category has been vital to the movement: ``not being political with any of the (Linux) vendors.'' That's going to be difficult to maintain, I suggest, as Linux companies such as Red Hat and VA Linux Systems get bigger and more powerful. <br><br>``It hasn't actually been that hard,'' he says. ``To some degree, the hardest part has been saying no to money (from vendors that want special treatment). There is so much money involved that sometimes. . . that's the hardest choice to make, to say, `No, I am not going to do that.' '' (While Torvalds hasn't gone to work for or endorsed any Linux vendors, he has accepted stock options from several unnamed companies that wanted to reward him for his years of effort.) <br><br>.....&quot;<br><br>(See full article at <A HREF="

http://www.wideopen.com/reprint/573.html"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.wideopen.com/reprint/573.html</A>

)<br><br>So, isn't that nice that companies want to &quot;reward&quot; him for his years of effort.&nbsp;&nbsp;Really sweet &lt;sarcasm&gt;.<br><br>Anyways, I think what Linus did was great.&nbsp;&nbsp;But still it annoys the heck out of me that there were (and still are) hundreds of people putting hundreds of hours into this thing and he is getting the options.<br><br>Not that I really like Gates, but atleast he shares his stock.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>Ghost<br><br>ps&nbsp;&nbsp;Still curious how much money he's sitting on too.....<br>

 

[rotovegasBoy]

Last I heard Linus was developing the kernel with financial backing from someone (??) but had agreed to put the kernel out as per the open source standard so that anyone could take it and develop their own version of linux.  The interesting point is that the kerenel, while important, makes up very little of what the OS ships with.  Many inculde a whole host of free applications and games as well as the stuff they developed.<br>Perhaps the question should be how long can Linus hold out before someone offers him an enormous amount of money to work exclusively for them.  I know if I was a budding CEO I'd give it a go.  Also has anyone (Like Microsoft or Mac) offered him money or stock or something for him not to keep the kernel public?

 

[Ghost]

rotovegasBoy,<br><br>Thanks for adding in here.<br><br>I don't think anyone would offer him money NOT to do something.&nbsp;&nbsp;My thinking is if he did take an offer from someone to DO something with his kernel it would really expose Linux for what it is -- just another version of Unix.&nbsp;&nbsp;Only difference being it is the cheapest one and has a strangely fanatical following.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>Just my two cents worth.<br><br>Ghost

 

[MikeLacey]

&quot;expose Linux for what it is -- just another version of Unix&quot;<br><br>I beg your pardon?<br><br>I don't really think that's much of an exposé to be honest. linix has always been just that. It could be argued (and this is hardly an original point) that Linux is something of a return to the original spririt of unix, free distribution with contributions from users and a gradual take up by vendors.<br><br>On difference might be in the copyright held by individuals, the thinking behind opensource has come on quite a bit since messrs Richie & Co first started playing withthe leftovers from Multix<br> <p>Mike<br><a href=mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com>michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a><br>

 

[rotovegasBoy]

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The reason I thought people may offer money to Linus not to make the kernel public is&nbsp;&nbsp;the old conspiracy that someone made a cheap, clean source of energy back in the sixties but the oil companies bought the patent and had any plans destroyed.&nbsp;&nbsp;I know it's strictly for the paranoid but it makes you think.&nbsp;&nbsp;Linux is a very big threat to the market share enjoyed by microsoft and apple.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ten (or even 5) years ago no-one considered running anything other than the mac os or the ms-dos windows combination on their desktop.&nbsp;&nbsp;Unix was strictly for those in the scientific or industrial fields.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If I were Gates I wouldn't be worried about any court decision (he's just going to end up with twice as many shares and once the market settles he'll be richer for it) I'd be worried about my market share being taken away by someone other than apple.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I also see that some vendors like Dell and Turbotops offer the option of getting systems with linux pre-installed. This is a big threat to microsoft.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Linux has always been (to me at least) a free, slightly experimental version of Unix.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ever since Gnu started with their version of tools that were usually better than their Unix equvalent its been bound to happen that someone came along and made a version of the actual OS with the same purpose. <p>Chris Packham<br><a href=mailto:kriz@i4free.co.nz>kriz@i4free.co.nz</a><br><a href= > </a><br>A thousand mokeys at a thousand machines, it happened, it got called the internet.

 

[kregh99]

&quot;If he didn't get money, than I apologize for this post.&quot;

If he did get money, you should still apologize. It's really none o' your beeswax where he gets his money.

Personally, I really could care less if he got money from RedHat. The point is, he doesn't charge me for his kernel/os, even I paid $100 for a linux distro, it still is less than half what a copy of Windows(insert version here) costs. Plus it's a better product.

 

[Breadcrust]

sounds a bit like some ones dissin' linus. does it really matter that much if red hat or who ever give him a couple of shares because he made the best os ever (and create a big treat to m$)?

Breadcrust (aka J@red)

Web -

http://www.bcwebnet.tk

E-mail - net-head@softhome.net
Linux Reg. Number - 307180

 

[aesirgeek]

Linus accepts money/options. This allows him to have more time to work on the kernel instead of other pursuits for money to live off of. Result, we get a better product?

Ryan

 

[Breadcrust]

that should of been &quot;(and create a big threat to m$)&quot;

[tt]
Breadcrust (aka J@red)

Web -

http://www.bcwebnet.tk

E-mail - net-head@softhome.net
Linux Reg. Number - 307180 (

http://counter.li.org)

[/tt]