Linus Torvalds

[irlandes]

I keep reading about the role Mr. Torvalds made to Linux, and still makes today. That's not my question.

What I want to know is what he does for a living. Is linux something he does after work, as a hobby? Or, is there some way he manages to make his living at it? Everyone has to earn the money to pay the bills, by some manner.

True, some don't have to do much. I have a son who is a math professor, and I think he works about 3 - 6 hours a week on a schedule. He has to publish or perish, but his research is strictly self-driven. As long as he cranks out a couple journal items per year, the check keeps rolling in.

So, maybe Linus does that? Any info will be appreciated, though it's just curiosity.

[Muzzafarath]

Torvalds works for Transmeta, the people who makes the "Crusoe" CPU...

[optech]

i'm sure that from the amount of users and companies using linux, he must recieve a large chunk of cash from it somehow. Plus, if he was in university when he wrote the original kernel, then he has education. He probably has a job too... "would you like fries with your chicken meal?" kernel saunders... get it?
augh... stupid humour... gotta love it... but that one was only 2/3 of a pun... get it? p.u? 3/3 of a pun = pun... 2/3 = pu 1/3 = p


ahhh, merry christmas

------------------
my love for you is ticking clock, berzeeerrrrrrker...
would you like to suck my **** berzeeeerrrrrrker.....

[jscott]

I believe he still works for www.transmeta.com (http://www.transmeta.com) It's a different kind of processor. Check it out.

[SlCKB0Y]

Dont forget people of his callibre in any given industry can expects upwards of 10-20k DOllars PER LECTURE, if they do a bit of that kind of thing. Do a few of them a year and your laughing.

[irlandes]

Originally posted by SlCKB0Y:
Dont forget people of his callibre in any given industry can expects upwards of 10-20k DOllars PER LECTURE, if they do a bit of that kind of thing. Do a few of them a year and your laughing.

You know, there aren't many people I'd pay a cent to hear, but he is indeed on the small list I would pay to hear. Good point.

I looked up the Crusoe, it does sound like a good idea!

I am not sure he gets a bundle of money for linux. He's the one who wanted it to be free, and it would be a contradiction if he's taking money for it, isn't it??

Anyway, thanks to all for information. Until I hear differently, I am going to guess linux is something he does on the side, and, yes, maybe money to lecture, or to consult on linux?? Thanks a lot. A minor detail, but I was curious.

[Gaccm]

i'm not sure if he wanted it to be free (as in beer) but, even if he does, Its not against the GPL to sell linux, the GPL is being modified to help business sell GPL software.

[Strike]

Originally posted by irlandes:
I am not sure he gets a bundle of money for linux. He's the one who wanted it to be free, and it would be a contradiction if he's taking money for it, isn't it??
He's not selling it either, so I don't see how you can say he's "taking money for it [Linux]". I mean, yeah, he's gotten a lot of notoriety and fame for it, which has in turn netted him a hefty lecture schedule and a job at a cutting-edge technological corporation. But, I don't think he makes any money directly for coding Linux. Everything is just a side result of the popularity of Linux.

I mean, he doesn't denounce all of his worldly possessions or anything. He just values free software very highly.

[Kid98]

A good friend of mine works at Transmeta, but not directly with Mr. Torvalds. If you go to www.transmeta.com (http://www.transmeta.com) you can read what they have to say about Linus's role at Transmeta. Also understand that though Linus is largely responsible for organizing ongoing kernel improvements, he has a vast body of folks that also contribute to different areas of each rewrite to make it all happen. This is not to say he is not one hardworking man. That type of organization is what makes this stuff so good. A vast body of experts contributing to the improvement of the kernel. These people are really great to give of their times and talents to further this fantastic product. (Free though it is). I don't know if Linus makes any money directly off his kernel work, but you can be sure his salary is sufficient to keep him working there.

Kid

PS: He is not the only world renowned guru working at Transmeta. Go to their page and find out who the other is.

[irlandes]

Originally posted by Kid98:

PS: He is not the only world renowned guru working at Transmeta. Go to their page and find out who the other is.

I am not having much luck at that URL. The only possible name would be Mark Allen, and then only if he was the other guy with Gates. Also, I found nothing about Linus, will look again when I have time.

Thanks.

[irlandes]

Originally posted by Strike:

He's not selling it either, so I don't see how you can say he's "taking money for it [Linux]".[/B][/QUOTE]

I did not say he was taking money for it. If you read my posting again, I was saying I did NOT believe he was taking money for linux. This was in response to someone who said, or implied, that he was.

The original reason I had this question was because I realized he would not be taking money directly for linux, and wondered how he was making it. Though I am sure no one knows exactly, the scenarios where he gets paid well by his employer, and also can draw big money for speaking, makes sense to me. Thanks for explaining.

This guy, Linus, is one smart guy, in my opinion. Here most of us struggle with the training curve, and he's got it all in his head.

Of course, I worked with guys like him in the 70's, and they all have to learn their way up the training curve. It's just they go so much faster, and so much farther. We had talked about making an OS which would let the micro-p's talk to humans via keyboard and monitor, but with families and jobs, we did nothing. Gates and partner had the same ideas, and as students, had time to play with it. (I'm not saying we were that smart, even if we'd had time.)

No matter what we think of Microsoft and it's business tactics, (Grrr!!! Gr!!!) Gates and Partner did make something that no one else did, and managed to put the world into computers.

[Muzzafarath]

I am not sure he gets a bundle of money for linux. He's the one who wanted it to be free, and it would be a contradiction if he's taking money for it, isn't it??


No it wouldn't (as someone mentioned earlier, Linux is not free as in "free beer", it's free as in speech, the "free" refers to freedom, not price). Check out these two pages:

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

[Kid98]

Yeah they changed the web page and its harder to find the info. Try this link http://www.transmeta.com/about/faq.html

I believe the second person is Paul Allen but they have changed the pages and I can't find the references to his work there anymore. I will keep looking.

Regards,

Kid

[Kid98]

I was partially wrong. Paul Allen (co-founder of mICROSOFT), is a backer of Transmeta, but I have no information that says he actually works there. There is a neat article that was published around the time Transmeta publicly announced what it was actually up to. Its a nice read. ( IMHO) http://www.salon.com/21st/feature/1998/05/22feature.html

Kid

[irlandes]

Checked out all the tips. I only wanted to understand what Linus was doing to make a living. Found that out, also a lot of neat stuff about the new processor. Thanks to all!