Linus Torvalds Announces Autobiography 134
Keith Whitsitt wrote in to say that Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, is writing his autobiography. Published by HarperCollins, co-authored by David Diamond, entitled "Just for Fun:The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary". The article is pretty funny, talking about how it will reflect Torvalds "Quirky irreverent personality" as well as how it will be about business, Linus, and Linux. Hell I'll read it, but isn't Linus a bit young for the autobiography? I keep pitching my epic space opera about alien robots who infest our planet and live off celebrities dryer lint to various publishers, but nobody wants to publish a book written by a leader of mexican food, and starring a hero named Litmus VanCenturfuge and his sidekick Pipet Jerks. I keep telling them my parents would buy copies. I bet Linus will sell copies to people besides his parents.
Re:bad publisher choice (Score:4)
ESR wrote fetchmail (Score:1)
Savant
The difference (Score:1)
We already know Linus is a writer
Good luck on your space opera!
were I linus... (Score:2)
Also, will the book include and audio CD with the "famous" "Hello, this is Linus Torvalds" sample?
Re:Too Young? (Score:1)
Re:Revolutionary? (Score:4)
Linus has played and continues to play a part in starting a revolution in computing. Whether he did that by "reimplmenting a 30 year old OS" or by having entirely new ideas or by redecorating his house, or by shaving his head, or by anything else at all is unimportant.
The undenyable fact is that the way people (including individuals and businesses) view computers and their operating systems is changing. This is due in part to the work of Linus. That makes him a revolutionary.
Thompson and Richtie are more like visionarys than revolutionaries (acciedental or otherwise) to me. (as is RMS for that matter)
Re:Coming Soon... (Score:3)
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Well he needs SOME income! (Score:2)
Re:"Linus - The Unstoppable" The Movie (Score:1)
See.....
Linus rescue a colony of furry penguins.
Furry penguins? d00d, pengiuns have feathers. They're birds! :)
But what about the robots?! (Score:2)
:)
Book w/CD? (Score:2)
Which distribution?
Yea (Score:1)
Re:Not sure how interesting this book will be (Score:2)
Looking at this rationally, the key item is that he wrote the Linux kernel. It had the side effect of re-energizing Stallman's free software movement, but that wasn't something Linus really did. Moving, having a job, and raising a family are not typically reasons that you write an autobiography, you know?
Re:Coming Soon... (Score:1)
well, thats figures MS produces loads of BS
Re:Coming Soon... (Score:1)
Fuck you asshole moderators (Score:1)
Deals with the Devil (Score:1)
Adler
Re:Not bad. (Score:1)
Yes, revolutionary. (Score:2)
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Sounds interesting... (Score:1)
aside to Taco: Don't feel too bad. The editors don't like stories from talking felines either. Can you honestly think of a better premise for a love story than the extinction of humanity? I didn't think so.
too much hype? (Score:1)
Re:Accidental Revolutionary (Score:1)
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:1)
"Linus - The Unstoppable" The Movie (Score:1)
Linus take on Tannenbaum and obliterate Minux
See.....
Linus take on Bill and Lynne Joltz and
leap ahead of 386BSD
See.....
Linus take on the Devil (either BSD or Bill
Gates)
See.....
Linus rescue a colony of furry penguins.
Re:Delays? (Score:1)
-sK
book dev! (Score:1)
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Re:The reason (Score:2)
It is pretty much impossible for Linus to thoroughly test the code he releases, particularly the stuff submitted to him by other developers, which often is for hardware he doesn't have. This is part of the development process. When he releases a new mini-version, everyone gets it and tries it out, and bugs are found.
If you believe that testing in Linux is faulty, well then, sign up and do some QA, and quit your fucking whining.
Re:Linus Gates (Score:1)
Crack (Score:1)
Re:Why is this moderated down? (Score:1)
The world cries out for CmdrTaco to be published.. (Score:1)
Please go immediately to http://www.iuniverse.com, submit your manuscript and slashdot yourself.
You'll sell millions of copies, obviously.
(And who said the internet wasn't your friend
davemc
Autobiography? (Score:1)
-- Thrakkerzog
Publishers have Editors... (Score:1)
It'd be co-autored by David Diamond in collaboration with Linus's parents of course.
-Daniel
P.S. Seriously though, at this point an autobiography may be a bit much; how about an interesting except from my life revolving around computing issues that have recently become popular. Lots of authors do that and they don't call it an autobiography... Like that cliford stoll book or something, but better.
Re:kernel 2.4? (Score:1)
But anyway, it's probably not going to be written that much by Linus anyway. In general with these celebrity books co-author means ghostwriter.
Typically an author will pass interesting titbits, or perhaps chapters, and the ghostwriter will put them together.
Everyone does it - Bill Gates, film stars, etc.
Re:ESR wrote fetchmail (Score:1)
Re:Publishers have Editors... (Score:2)
He's since gone on to write a few more; maybe writing pays better than computing!
I agree though, that producing an autobiography at Linus' tender age is a bit ridiculous. A 'life' excerpt book sounds a much better idea. OTOH, if biographies of certain footballers get written when they are in their 20's, why shouldn't Linus jump on the bandwagon ?
Not sure how interesting this book will be (Score:3)
Linus became a folk hero because of what his creation touched off. It enabled idealistic rants of a previous generation of isolated and fading UNIX geeks to go mainstream. And it isn't the kernel that gets attention any more, but KDE and Gnome and The Gimp and Apache and all the application people who are trying to conquer the world.
I expect Linus's book to be on par with "Weaving the Web," by the creator of the web, Tim Berners-Lee. It was interesting in a technical sense, but it was obvious that his views and ideas were not what people think of when they think about the web.
David Diamond (Score:1)
If anyone is interested in co-author David Diamond, you should check out this profile [mercurycenter.com] of Linus he wrote.
Or at least, The Register says he wrote it. Damned if I can find his name on it anywhere. Anyway, it's kind of cute.
Taking Advantage (Score:1)
Re:Revolutionary? (Score:2)
Savant
What I would like to read about (Score:2)
I know it didn't all just happen over night, but the man has some serious organizational skills. Did he have a mentor, or was it just natural?
Re:Open source bio... (Score:1)
And Cmdr Taco and Malda could open a new web site:
www.biodot.org
Re:Open Source Bio? (Score:1)
When?? (Score:1)
Geez, maybe he should give time management seminars, because he seems to be doing a hell of a job managing his.
Quick note re: Stallman... (Score:1)
The book focuses on the history of computing in three phases, the infamous TMRC / AI Lab at MIT, the Homebrew Computer Club, and the early days of video game software for Apples. However, there's a small section at the end about RMS and GNU where Stallman gets to air some of his ideas. It's a nice way to close the book, because it connects back to the tradition that started at MIT, and was almost destroyed after the days of the Altair. And I, for one, have always found RMS's mission interesting.
Anyway, whether or not you like Stallman, Levy's book is a good read for any geek. It's a great way to connect with hackerdom's roots.
--Lenny
PS- I also recommend "The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder. It's a good look at the hardware side of things, and though it was written in the 70's, much of the book is still relevent today.
Re:Open Source Bio? (Score:1)
Jeremy
http://www.tech-seek.com It's for sale.. if interested, email me
EXCLUSIVE! (Score:2)
"I wanted to create an OS better than the example OS use in my OS class: MINIX. I never did succeed in making Linux better, but I had a lot of fun on the way."
Doesn't this say it all?
But will it come with... (Score:1)
Re:Not sure how interesting this book will be (Score:1)
Re:Response to CmdrTaco: (Score:1)
Re:Revolutionary? (Score:1)
Plus really Linuz put in the "final peice" of the 100% pure GNU useable OS "puzzle". I say "useable" because not many people are using the hurd kernel is a productive envoriment.
Linuz (with the help of others) slaped that final kernel peice in and said "Done, there you got %100 hackable freely avaiable OS with all the tools and toys you could ask for"
Sure there where/is other %100 GPL OS out there, but not really as mainstream as GNU/Linux and not as useable as GNU/Linux.
(Score:1)
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Open Source Bio? (Score:2)
Re:Not that strange. (Score:1)
At last (Score:1)
Re:Not that strange. (Score:1)
did not work (Score:1)
Re:Too Young? (Score:1)
Now now, that's not a fair comparison at all... virtually everyone has more to say than Brittany Spears. Yeesh. ;)
Hmmmm, well... (Score:1)
But yes, Linus is far to young to be writing an autobiography.
I really hope (Score:1)
Hey what about my kernel? :) (Score:1)
Mike Roberto
- GAIM: MicroBerto
Re:Linus the movie, Linus the musical .... (Score:1)
Accidental Revolutionary (Score:2)
Re:NOBODY cares Anonymous Coward... (Score:1)
Not that strange. (Score:2)
Linus Gates (Score:1)
Re:Open source bio... (Score:2)
Rob are you feeling ok? (Score:1)
maybe you should go take a nap?
kernel 2.4? (Score:1)
Hmm. (Score:1)
Re:bill gates (Score:1)
Aha! (Score:1)
No, not Open Source (Score:2)
1. It should be Open Source
2. Linus is too boring
3. (Offtopic) Gore/Bush sucks.
Ok, here's my point. This actually sounds interesting. Every interview Linus has given has shown him to be more articulate and interesting than the majority of people in the so-called technology industry today. His story is interesting to me, and he doesn't have to be 65 to have lived an exciting life. I'm not completely sure why people think you have to be old to have really experienced much. We're talking about an individual who in university started writing some code that is now on over 5% of the computers out there right now. The amount of fame, and infamy he has simultaneously recieved is astounding.
Also, I'd love to hear his take on the amount of hype, money and politics surrounding Linux, especially considering how he has long avoided those issues.
There are a few programmers I really respect (among Michael Abrash, Carmack, Linus and Stallman) and of those, I have enjoyed reading their writings, technical or otherwise; I'm looking forward to this book, even if I can't download it for free off the internet.
bad AP reference (Score:1)
LINUS - "Help, Help i'm in a nutshell..."
*Shrug* better get some more coffee, sorry...
E.
Linus 1.2.1.00.1 (Score:1)
CmdrTaco's book (Score:1)
Re:Too Young? (Score:1)
//rdj
Re:Too Young? (Score:1)
As someone who sees him self as part writer.. (Score:4)
This will be the chapter where the world is first exposed to your true arrogance, your insecurities,your odd behaviorisms, and all that stuff you didn't want them to see initially. Just think about how they will react. Getting that monkey off your back has to be a taste of true freedom that will enable you do go that much farther next time. This is a critical step in character development for the character of you in the real biography.
I say that whoever signed this deal also extends one to Stallman. I know that cat has some stories to tell.
Auto-biography? (Score:1)
Oh wait --
Re:Too Young? (Score:1)
It kind of makes you wonder how they looked, and how they thought when they were, say, 30 years old. I can imagine, if a person writes an autobiography when he's 80, he is going to have a different angle on his life when he was 20 than he does when he writes it at 30.
Even better, write the stuff down before you do the revolution. That's going to be something for the historians of the future. (Hm, I've copied everything I've got to tape the last couple of years, now it's time to do something revolutionary.... :-) )
Re:Revolutionary? (Score:1)
i think unix was about 20 years old only when linus started to work on linux
although i do agree with you that it's not that revolutionary.
Coming Soon... (Score:5)
Linus - The Breakfast Cereal
Linus - The Fragrance
An Autobiography? (Score:1)
Would this be an autobiography? Dude, you're more whacked than I thought...
Linus the movie, Linus the musical .... (Score:2)
CmdrTaco's AutoBioGraphic (Score:2)
Re:were I linus... (Score:2)
Re:Revolutionary? (Score:3)
Raising a people's army and overthrowing the government isn't new, it's been done thousands of times before, but that doesn't stop it being revolutionary.
bad publisher choice (Score:4)
If I recall correctly, HarperCollins published Canter and Siegel's book, "How to make a fortune on the information superhighway". Canter and Siegel were the green card attorneys that "invented" spamming to newsgroups. They ruined usenet for everyone. And HarperCollins published their book, explaining how to do it.
I still have my original Joel Furr "Green Card" T-Shirt.
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Re:Open Source Bio? (Score:2)
You can also Report Bugs [usrsrclinu...rting-bugs]
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Revolutionary? (Score:4)
Thompson and Richtie may be revolutionaries for designing unix in the first place, but redoing someone elses work hardly seems revolutionary.
Heck, someone is going to call Gjs Van Sant's Psycho original next...
Re:Coming Soon... (Score:2)
Possible idea - diary hardcopies. (Score:2)
While an autobiography might look a bit shaky, something like, oh, The Compiled Diary of Alan Cox might be taken more seriously by the geek crowd.
OTOH, Linus's autobiography will probably sell like hotcakes to the business crowd that's just heard about this "Linux" thing.
Re:Too Young? (Score:2)
//rdj
Re:Revolutionary? (Score:5)
Yes, because amazingly, after he reimplemented a decades old OS, people started using it. Something about his project attracted people, and that's a social achievement, combined with good luck/fate (e.g. BSD's legal troubles).
Luck, being in the right place at the right time, resulting in social achievement ... sounds like every revolution I've ever heard of.
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I wonder how it will be licensed (Score:2)
After Steven King made the historic forway into e-publishing, I'm wondering if Linus will also take the opportunity to publish his book under a special or alternative license that will free it from possible future draconian publishing restrictions.
Do you think that the negatives still outweigh the benefits (ie., getting his contact turned down), or is it about time to start really pushing our open ideals to other industries.
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Open source bio... (Score:2)
Heh...
Eric Gearman
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It's just his versioning system (Score:3)
When he wants to publish "Linus Version Two: Just Outta Beta" forty years from now, will HarperCollins still have the rights?
He's just getting a head start, just like other famous "younger" people like Tiger Woods [amazon.com]. When he's in his seventies, he'll publish all over again to appeal to the gray-haired Geek Generation.
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I'm thinking that the book should be free here... (Score:2)
I'm thinking that the book should be free here... (Score:4)