Linus Shares the Millennium Technology Prize 111
udas writes "The Millennium Technology Prize is awarded every two years for a technological innovation that significantly improves the quality of human life, today and in the future. This year, Linus Torvalds, Linux's creator, and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, maker of a new way to create stem cells without the use of embryonic stem cells, are both laureates for the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize. This prize, which is determined by the Technology Academy of Finland, is one of the world's largest such prizes with candidates sought from across the world and from all fields of technology. The two innovators will share over a million Euros. The final winner will be announced by the President of the Republic of Finland in a special ceremony on June 13, 2012."
Re:Innovation (Score:2, Interesting)
And your contribution is?
Thought so.
Re:Innovation (Score:4, Interesting)
If you were around before Linux had a mascot, you'd remember that there was a lot of criticism for choosing a penguin as the mascot. For a variety of reasons.
Re:Tech Acadamy of FINLAND!!! (Score:0, Interesting)
Stallman would argue the open source movement has actually held us back and I think Stallman is right. Certain industries (largely commercial software operations and hardware manufacturers) have used proprietary software in ways that harm our community. Our software is harder to use today than it needs to be. Not because free software is hard to use. it is because of the proprietary software we have let in. This can be attributed to the open source proponents. I'm not going to put down the open source proponents as I think there is some middle ground. However Richard Stallman and the free software foundation recognise some middle ground as well. This is why we have licenses other than the GPL which are promoted by the free software foundation in certain circumstances.
While my company doesn't follow the wishes of Stallman perfectly we do hold up to scrutiny by him and the foundation for the most part. We have been rewarded financially and succeed in ways that hundreds of companies which have come before us have failed or moved on. You may not know this company yet... although there is a lot more awareness of our existence today than I could have ever imagined a few months ago. We have done almost zero marketing. In any case you will know us in the coming months and years. We are the next Redhat. We are literally creating a competing the foundation for free software to prosper through company policies. This is making it possible for GNU/Linux to compete on a more level playing field with the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and Adobe.
If I sound like a pompous self righteous ass hole keep in mind I have been fighting for a long time and am not someone who gets recognised / appreciated like RMS or Linus. That isn't to say the results of my efforts are not appreciated. It is just few know who I am or what I've done. My work is uninteresting and largely of a less technical nature. There are a lot of people like myself who are not well known making a difference. Both technical (developers) and less technical (business, art, translation, promoters, etc). Part of what I do is find ways to fund the less known projects that have no good means of generating funding.
Re:Tech Acadamy of FINLAND!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Stallman's "You're either with us, or against us." ideology would be completely toxic in a leader of a project like Linux.
That's your mistake right there. First, your mis-characterization of Stallman's attitude does not reflect the spirit, and the very practical effect, of the GPL, at all. And second, Stallman's role and influence is not one of a leader of project like Linux. Different roles, different attitudes. You simply reaffirm old saws like "oh he just set out to do something useful without caring about such a nasty thing as ideology". My point is, and I re-assert it: without Stallman and his founding principles (call it what you want, I don't care), there would be no Linux, and without his dogged persistence and his very active and pro-active role as maintainer of the GPL, Linux, and the whole free software eco-system, would not have survived.
I should have said it better: Linux, by sharing his prize with Stallman, would multiply the value of that prize, for both of them, by a factor of one or two magnitudes. He would make history.
Re:Tech Acadamy of FINLAND!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
I never mentioned the GPL in my post. I said his ideology. The GPL is a (very good) product of Stallman's ideology, but his ideology is much larger than the GPL. And it very much is an ideology that refuses to compromise and refuses to work with others who do not agree with the ideology. There's nothing wrong with that, it just prevents a person from successfully leading a project like Linux.
And that's what I said, as well, but when the GP said:
I assume that's also what they meant, that Stallman could create the GPL and champion the cause of free software, but he could not successfully be in charge of Linux. And you said they were wrong, which led to me saying you were wrong... So who exactly is wrong here? :)
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)