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Linus Puts Shields Up 166

Posted by CmdrTaco from the can't-believe-he-waited-this-long dept.
wesmills writes "ZDNet, that fine purvayor of well-balanced, highly informative Linux stories (BS mode OFF) has written a piece complaining that Linus isn't as accessible as he used to be. You wouldn't answer the phone, either, if you had 1000s of journalists asking the same question all day, every day, would you? " I'm in an odd position: As a pseudo journalist I sometimes need to get ahold of people in that capacity, but I also have to deal regularly with media types who just want a lame quote for their article. After you answer the same questions time and time again, it gets amazingly tedious (And I've been known to tell reporters to read the FAQ too ;) I'm amazed Linus lasted this long. I hope that the levels of protection he's put in place give him some well deserved privacy.
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Linux Puts Shields Up More

Linux Puts Shields Up

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  • Journalists interrupting his work day? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You mean his employers weren't objecting to constant interruptions at least as much or more than Linus himeself was? I would think, seeing as how they won't even reveal publicly what they are developing, that they'd shoo off the journalsts wether Linus cared or not.
  • Journalists should realize just how lucky they are to get to bother Linus as much as they do. Is Mr. Micros*ft as accessible? Or anywhere near as interesting? :)

  • You said you loved me! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Oh, Linus . . . why are you so distant? You said you loved me . . . we were going to buy a condo . . . now it's all I can do to bring myself to park outside your house and dig through your garbage... LINUS! WE NEVER TALK ANYMORE! Maybe...what if I were to shoot Reagan....

  • Linus is, for better or worse, a celebrity of a sort... people are going to keep asking him dumb questions (and, to be fair, smart ones) and he's just going to be completely overwhelmed. It's basically a choice of him answering questions at random, or actually getting something done.

    Since he's apparently choosing the latter, it's obvious success hasn't gotten to his head... and least not too much. :) (I'd be shocked if it didn't get to his head at all - it would get to practically anyone's head.)

  • If you read the article (unlike almost every single person that posted a 'talkback' on zdnet), you will see that the author isn't bashing Linus for this. He's just stating the fact that Linus has a media buffer now. So try not to go off bashing ZDNet and screaming "FUD!"

    "Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow 'er."

  • Lest anyone take it the wrong way, I meant to say 'at least not too much' :)

    - Chad, who needs to start using the preview button. ;)

  • "linus refuses to answer the fone at work to answer non-work-related questions."

    this is unexpected? why would it surprise a single soul that he opts not to take calls at work? transmeta (presumably) doesnt pay him to chat on the fone all day with his legions of devotees; he should do his job and ZD should stop reporting unnews.
  • The man has a job to do and has a family to raise. Sheesh. I would have given up months ago with that. I mean, I can't just call up Bill Gates and have a friendly chat with him about his thoughts on Win2k (or can I).

    Seriously, tho. Isn't this the job of Linux International, made up of most of the other big names in Linux? They should be the ones receiveing the PR calls.

    Maybe we need a PR-HOWTO for Linux that can be faxed on demand? (Q1. How is it pronounced...?)
  • There are plenty of quotes around to answer any question these "news" sites have. Let's face it, they don't ask questions that are very intelligent (they should read a FAQ/HOWTO/etc). I'd personally only be able to take a few times before getting pissed at them. :) Linus doesn't cover a lot of what Linux is now about, desktop environments, Apache losing to IIS, and the like. These sites like ZDNet are more targetted to the using end of Linux, not the development. I'm sure many of their questions would be better directed at the appropriate groups.

    If there's some big Linux news, like a new kernel release (ie 2.4, 3.0), there will be appropriate press releases for their quoting needs.

    Linus, keep up the good work and never mind these wackos.
  • It appears Linus Torvalds has a handler, which must mean this whole Linux thing is mainstream so forget about the revolution and get back to work on your Windows desktops.


    It appears the grammar checkers at zdnet are all broken so forget about punctuation and feel free to write grotesquely run on sentences with no punctuation in wild abandon but you cant really complain bacause hey if we really knew how to write we'd get a real job at a respectable publication and stop trying to poop on the linuxux guys parade.


  • Might Linus just be out on vacation?

    It's summertime, very traditional for Europeans to take vacation. And who deserves one more?

    -- Robert

  • On CNN Q+A just the other day (Score:3)

    by Get Behind the Mule ( 61986 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @11:09AM (#1723207)
    I was channel surfing the other day and was amazed to find myself looking at Linus Torvalds on CNN's Q+A program. It was the first time I heard his voice or saw a picture of him that wasn't a still.

    Somebody tell the ZDNet guy that not only did he make himself available to the media, he did it in a format specifically designed for fielding as many questions as possible.

    If I were Linus, I'd get the receptionist to start telling people that he'll receive messages, except for those coming from Zipf-Davies.
  • I still see Linus floating around the comp.os.linux newsgroups every once and a while, especially when there's a kernel debate going on.

    I'd like to see Gates go into the MS newsgroups using his real name :')

  • This is a silly useless article, just put up because a guy couldn't get an interview. He didn't even try to fax Linus.

    Also, I'm not aware of who else would call Linus other than Journalists & Reporters. His friends will call him at home and we will just continue to E-Mail him.

    Oh no, I'm sorry for suggesting that Linus. Send me E-Mail and I'll work on a procmail filter for you, ok? :)

  • The Linux Gods demand a sacrifice! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I don't know about Linus but I personally wouldn't grant interviews unless they brought beer. Or helped stock the home bar. Preferably with a keg of Carolina Pale Ale (a fine live brew with full body and a slightly rosey flavor) or Guiness. After all, we have to have our standards...
  • ~just a little bit~

    ~just a little bit~

    S-A-R-C-A-S-M

    (to the tune of "RESPECT")
    Berlin-- http://www.berlin-consortium.org [berlin-consoritum.org]
  • Let's just hope that journalists don't start hounding him on c.o.l and linux-kernel...
    Berlin-- http://www.berlin-consortium.org [berlin-consoritum.org]

  • Media Savvy (Score:3)

    by My Little Pony ( 71274 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @11:20AM (#1723214) Homepage
    A few months ago Brill's Content [brillscontent.com] had an excellent article on how Microsoft has used access to Bill Gates as a "bribe" to journalists to gain the fawning press they've had. (I like Brill's Content: they actually edit what Jon Katz writes. :-)

    Because Linux doesn't need a commercial following to keep doing what it does, there's no reason for Linus to take this manipulative approach. Hopefully, the "journalists" will stop bugging Linus for stupid sound bites and start bugging the likes of Bob Young. I think Mr. Young would be much more receptive, after all, Red Hat does have a commercial interest.

  • Wow. (Score:3)

    by Accipiter ( 8228 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @11:21AM (#1723215)
    What wonderful journalists we have at ZDNet.

    It would appear that they are not concerned that Linus has a life of his own. Sure, creating a product means that you should take a certain amount of responsibility in supporting users by answering questions, but the man has to have some time to himself. He has a wife, and a child. He also has a job, and he DOES work on things other than Linux. If his attention were put 100% into appeasing journalistic vultures like Mr. Berinato, his family, job, life, and sanity would suffer. And then, to have the nerve to complain about it just makes me sick.

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

  • At least on a mailing list or usenet, he has the choice of just ignoring the journalists.

  • Well, personally I don't have much sympathy for anyone who starts out with bombastic statements like "the linux revolution is over" and then slowly take it back over the rest of the article.

    Though I'd like to be Linux enthusiasts are for the most part rational, it doesn't surprise me that at least some of them would read the first few lines and skip to the bottom to send off a flame.

    I'm not sure what the author is trying to acheive.
    Perhaps he wants only to generate controversy, or maybe he's affecting a faux cynical style, where he pretends that he's critical of Linux, but in the end won't stick his nick out and make any kind of real statement.

    For the last few months we've seen the whole tech community devided on whether Linux is worthwhile or not. Some authors even waffle back and forth on this. This one can't even make up his mind within the scope of one article.


  • What's the number? (Score:4)

    by rjreb ( 30733 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @11:28AM (#1723219)
    Anyone know Scott Berinato's phone number so I can discuss this article with him?

  • i don't think that linus is a millionaire. he hasn't made any money _directly_ off of linux, though certainly some indirectly. in his own words (in some interview, of course i can't remember when) "[i don't need to get rich from linux because] do you think i'm going to be unemployed any time soon?"

  • A journalist's perspective (Score:5)

    by gavinhall ( 33 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @11:34AM (#1723222)
    Posted by Mike@ABC:

    If y'all don't know me, I'm the tech reporter at ABCNEWS.com. I've had occasion to talk with Linus on a number of occasions, and he's been very nice, very thoughtful, and I think has given my stories a unique and powerful perspective that they wouldn't have otherwise had.

    I've noted on here that many of the posts are aimed at the journalists, and some rightfully so. But believe it or not, we're not all twinks, dweebs, shmucks and newbies. Some of us actually take the time to RTFM before we bother people.

    Of course, many don't, and I don't blame Linus for putting up the shields.

    Still, Linux isn't the underground project it was two years ago. This OS has become a powerful force in both business and technology, and the guy who continues to lead the project is obviously going to be in demand.

    I would hope Linus continues to work with reporters (like me, hint hint) to get Linux out into the mainstream media. And I hope he and many of the other folks whom we constantly pester continue to exhibit their characteristic patience with the media.


  • Hey! Sure, give us a teaser and DON'T give us a URL where we can see the archived show! Or, if anyone taped it, do they want to do the charitable thing and put it up for us all?

    Damn...and I have CNN at work..sheee--it. Can't believe I missed it!

    IS it archived anywhere?

  • Perhaps a Press Resources page? (Score:3)

    by Cardinal ( 311 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @11:38AM (#1723224)
    As the media hunt down sound bites from the 'celebrities' of the community, they're bound to get less accessible. Such is life. One thing ESR provides is a simple press resources page that has generic bio information (Of course, how many hundred Linux articles have supplied bio information for Linus by now?), a resume, links to his papers, yadda. I wonder if something like this would make life easier for Linus.
  • Leave him alone! He has four things that keep him busy enough:
    -Be a family man
    -Kernel stuff
    -World Domination
    -Work with aliens on strange new technology (that's his paying job!)
  • And I think that's a good thing.

    I think of the revolutionary component of linux being the fact that a free, open source operating system has made inroads into the computing mainstream and rigorously shaken the computer industry.

    What's next is the fallout from that - developing the GUI's, developing the applications, integrating into appropriate environments, and expanding support mechanisms. That's not revolution, that's consolidating the gains of the revolution. It means the life after the hype.
  • Posted by Mike@ABC:

    Not a bad idea, really. Maybe Linux.com could throw something together, possibly include a primer on Linux itself, get a timeline and history of the project....

    If anybody wants to work on this, drop me an e-mail and I'll help with the info -- AFTER we get Linus' approval, of course.
  • Ok, that sounds reasonable enough.

    Now, do you agree that a journalist who writes a story about the relative inaccessibility of a popular figure, like Linus Torvalds, is whining. Especially when compared to the past when the figure was less popular?

  • Actually, up here in Scandinavia the heat goes away as soon as the days start getting shorter, so we don't take vacations around this time of year. Its cold now, I'm considering a jacket when I take my dog out in a few minutes...

    Nothern vacations are usually in June to early July...

    -
    /. is like a steer's horns, a point here, a point there and a lot of bull in between.

  • A simple solution for us.. (Score:4)

    by Bowie J. Poag ( 16898 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @11:59AM (#1723232) Homepage

    The solution to the PR problem is simple -- Keep doing what we've always been doing. Develop publically, talk privately. Not the other way around.

    You'll notice that in every situation where a person in a management role must also fulfill a spokesman role, that the whole situation will begin to slowly fall apart. Management and spokesmanship are mutually exclusive activities -- You cant perform one duty without somehow taking away from or harming your ability to perform the other...A veeeery important lesson I learned not too long ago. Anyone remember the GNOME Style Guide? (*grin*)

    The press is basically looking for another Gates to put in the other corner of the computer industry's boxing ring. We'd be smart to let them stay confused rather than divert our attention to clueing them in. If you think about it, the press hasn't even comprehended the idea that nobody owns Linux yet. Its their responsibility to inform themselves, not ours, imho.

    Bowie J. Poag
  • I don't blame you at all -- most Slashdot threads wouldn't exist were not for outside news stories, so we're grateful. Reporters have to cover the news, and the founder and chairman of the linux kernel is definitely news.

    But the ZDNet reporter doesn't make the media look big on brains. Linus isn't putting up shields -- he's just being pursued by more reporters than ever (thanks to more Linux in the news), and can still give only so much of his time to talking to them.

  • I mean, if Linus has something important to say, I'm sure I'll hear it here, or on linuxtoday...

    Oh, those people are just whining and moaning, because they won't be the first ones to tell the word every time Linus sneezes.
    --

  • Not a bad idea. Needs an interactive factor, though, because Linux news changes so quickly. Maybe the media needs to learn to use newsgroups and post questions.

    r

    Media newsgroups. Ironic, no?
  • Sounds like a good reason to go on vacation.
  • After all of his free efforts, I think he ought to say he's only available for $1000/hour consulting (but could make an exception when it's someone he would actually like to speak with). That way it's worth his time when he has to put up with clueless reporters asking the same meaningless questions.
  • What this guy started may shift enough capital around in the computer biz to rival the GNP of a small country. A small country the size of umm....Washington state! I'm no Linus worshipper but as I understand it he lives in a humble house and drives a humble car and is a fairly humble guy. I like that. But I've wondered about his vulnerability. What if something unfortunate happened to him? To what levels will some deranged day-trader go if this open-source OS continues its rampage? I apologize if you find this alarmist, but the dependance on one humble guy looks like a weakness in the Linux armor.

  • Linus is a great guy (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The emails I sent to Linus have always
    been answered. At least the ones who were
    no crap.

    I sent an email when kernel 0.99pl6 was current,
    and got a reply within half an hour.
    I sent an email about kernel 2.2.10 and i got
    a reply within an hour.

    Thats somethin that facinates me. Sending an
    email to the goldfather of linux, and getting
    answers. Don't even think of getting an answer
    from bill.gates@microsoft.com.

    And of course the kernel source speaks for it self, so
    other people can help you too. But don't start
    asking for information that doesn't concern Linux.
    Maybe thats the crap the journalists
    from e.g. ZdNEt are after. I wouldn't respond
    to that either.

    The bug stops here.

    nasaldemon: "Richard, they won't get it. They won't understand. You're
    gonna be shot down in flames for this one, big-time."

    Richard: "I know. It's one of those do-it-and-damn-the-consequences days."
  • I once happened to be in Linus' kitchen for a while. I got his business card, which had a different number on it from his publically published one.

    Originally, if you called transmeta and asked to be transferred to Linus, you'd get a message that said "Linus Torvalds, who doesn't check his voicemail" in Linus's voice, followed by an automated voice saying "is not available..". When you called the number on his card, you just got "Linus Torvalds" without any disclaimers about voicemail.

    What I'm saying is that he's had buffers before, but now it's more than just a little indirection.
    --
    I noticed
  • Wow, another example of moderation gone bad. This is clearly not a troll. I actually thought it was kinda funny.
  • Here! Here! Answering the phone only leads to useless conversations that you don't initiate!
  • You know that song (by some female artist or other, I don't know the name) "Why don't you love me, David Duchovny?" It'd be neat if someone (perhaps this person to whom I'm replying.. [sarcastic "hmmmm"]) would take that song and rewrite it to Linus Torvalds. Then again, maybe I'm just losing what I never really had to begin with...

  • I think you have the right idea, how about everyone who reads /. call Scott Berinato and ask him a list of questions. I bet he would get tired of it after a few calls.
  • After you answer the same questions time and time again, it gets amazingly tedious (And I've been known to tell reporters to read the FAQ too)

    For the longest time I've had this question about slashdot that seemed too obvious not to be mentioned on a faq or just plain as day to everyone out there. But I've done my homework and no dice, so here goes:

    Why /.? What's the name mean (other than "the current directory")? My roommate suggested "./" since it's used a lot more often. Is there some meaning that I'm missing? Is it a joke? Does it just sound neat?

    If someone could just point to a faq, that would be just as good.

  • Clever sig. My neck hurts now...
  • You assume that these M$'ing media types know how to access usenet.
  • It may have only been available on CNN International [cnn.com]. I searched a bit and can't find any transcript or link about the Linus' appearance. The page about the Q&A program [cnn.com] doesn't mention earlier broadcasts.

    Too bad they don't post transcripts; it seems like it's the kind of show for which transcripts would be valuable. Maybe they'll send you one if you ask.
  • Basically negative propaganda spread about an opposing product/view/idea, usually in order to avoid rational comparisons.

    chris
  • Posted by Mike@ABC:

    Guys, there's no way I'm going to respond to another reporter's work.
  • Posted by Mike@ABC:

    We have media newsgroups. Really. But I don't know if anyone's done one for Linux media, and even if they did, the non-tech savvy reporters you want to reach wouldn't know where to look!
  • Seriously. Only Americans have such short vacations.

    Me, I've got 4 weeks starting, going up to 6 weeks in the 5th year. The only way to fly...

    Actually turned down another job as I would have had to start over with 2 weeks - told them to pay me more and do leave without pay, but "that might create a precedent". Whatever ...

  • Or just 'current', the idea meaning that the news is up to date.

    Or maybe just because slash slash slash dot dot org sounds funny.
  • I suspect that what you understand, and this ZDNet guy doesn't, is that in the end, it isn't about the press. Many journalists (especially those who work for more marginal publications) seem to think that they are somehow more important because they are THE PRESS and that somehow they are owed more for this reason. They are not.

    The impression I get is that Torvalds is a nice guy who doesn't give a damn about the press. That's a very healthy attitude, if you ask me. Not that the press is bad or anything. It is just that they have no more right to his time than any of the rest of us do.

    I suspect that the journalists that understand that will, in the end, get more access.
  • Now, do you agree that a journalist who writes a story about the relative inaccessibility of a popular figure, like Linus Torvalds, is whining.

    I didn't see it as whining or complaining. In fact, the author said that he understands why. It was more like nostalgia, glad for his success; but whistful for the "good old days".

    It is similar to the feelings for your favorite local band hitting the big times. You are happy for their success; but, also regret that you can no longer go hear them play every week.

  • Let the whole world wait for 2.4.0 so he can answer the same question again? No the Linux revolution is not over. It is just hard at work.

    By the way when was NT5 "windows2000" due out? Maybe Microsoft should do the same for all of it's own people. Oh I am sorry they are all too busy faking emails.

  • Re:linus vs bill (Score:3)

    by hunterotd ( 45809 ) on Thursday August 26, 1999 @03:36PM (#1723269) Homepage
    Since when does having money make someone interesting? I have a lot more money now that I'm working two jobs, but I'd venture to say that I'm much less interesting.

    Money doesn't make you more attractive or more interesting. This is something that so many people have a problem understanding.

    Here's a question for Bill Gates himself: Don't you get tired of having so many people curse your name every time their machine crashes? I would feel very sorry if my Operating System hurt other people when I could fix it with virtually no trouble.

    But then again, maybe that's why I'm a computer scientist instead of a businessman. That way, I can concentrate on quality and how my program is going to help people out, instead of the bottom line, and how much money can be made if we ship a week early, and don't bother on Quality Assurance.

    But then again, maybe I'm a computer scientist because I'm an anti-social geek. One or the other.

    Anyway, Bill Gates, if you're out there reading this, please feel free to drop me a line answering my question. I promise not to spread the address around.

  • Lemme get this straight...

    This guy wanted to rattle of a quick and dirty article about today's hot topic (Linux) by phoning up the inventor and getting a personal quote.

    Linus wouldn't take his call.

    So he wrote an entire article about the fact that Linus wouldn't take his call, full of speculation and allegory and other forms of hamburger helper to get the word count up.

    There's a certain amount of peverse ingenuity in doing that much to avoid actually having to do any kind of work. I can't figure out if I should be amused or disgusted. Let's see...

    1) Did the fact Linus wouldn't take his call actually suprise him? There IS a pending feature freeze on the 2.3 series, he's kind of swamped right now in a BIG WAY.

    2) Why is he writing a column this long about something he calls inevitable within the column?

    3) Did it ever occur to him that Linus's employers at Transmeta might be behind it? It is a company phone after all, he theoretically does some kind of actual work for them. PR is nice but it's not ALL he does there.

    4) He needs an appointment weeks in advance to see his dentist, but won't send the fax to get on Linus's calendar.

    5) He scolded somebody for asking a question about patenting genomes, but never said what great new original questions HE was going to ask Linus.

    If this was a post a mailing list, this guy would probably have just found a home in my twit-filter... Must have been one heck of a tight deadline to result in an article like that...

    Rob

  • Can anybody tell me what this new Fax number is? Thanks!

  • Re:not answering the phone is bad? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    If they want someone to talk to that badly they should call ESR.

    How could anybody want to talk that badly?
  • The M$ media types access usenet (which was innovated by bill gates in 1996) using Microsoft DirectActiveNetnews v2.5sp9. It automatically CaPItAlIZeS random letters, and the next version will 4uT0 31337-sp33kX0r. When you click post, the default is to cross-post to every group on the net, and then some. Users that try to remove innapropriate groups will be made to feel stupid by a small animated paperclip. ActiveFlame will automatically question poster's species, and even automatically compare them to hitler, saving the user time. Thanks to Microsoft, we net users will now for the first time be able to form communities based on our common interests, and then destroy them.
  • When Linus has something important to say, he says it on the linux kernel mailing list. Later it will be posted by others here and at LT.
  • >ZDNet report is completely useless

    Just drop the word report and you have the gist of the mattter....

    The National Enquirer must not be hiring right now, so ZDNet must have decided to take up the slack....
  • Umm actually, not really.

    He didn't go to Harvard on scholarships. He was richer than just about everyone here when he was born. He had multi-million dollar trust funds. Luck and knowing the right people got his fortune.
  • >He is mud-slinging against Linux because he feels put down because of >not having a personal red phone to Linus.

    Also if you notice a *LOT* of these reporters are pissed because Linux Users have pretty much managed to do an end-run around them and the publications most of them work for. Remember the Amiga and the Atari ST? These reporters and industry trade rags could and did hinder the acceptance of both of these machines by refering to them as "Game Machines" and so forth. Nowdays they really can't do that when you have magazines like Forbes doing articles on Linux and BSD. Makes you wonder what the world would've been like if like articles concerning Amiga and ST had shown up in similar ones.
  • B-)

    (And he could give Mike@ABC his free number.)

  • It looks to me like the concerns most people
    have about this article are:

  • It looks to me like the concerns most people
    have about this article are:

    - The apparent double standard being shown,
    where journalists apparently expect to have
    an amount of access to Linus Torvalds that
    they don't expect from other companies.

    - The fact that this "new media buffer" around
    Linus Torvalds was deemed "newsworthy", when
    there's no solid evidence that Linus has a
    new policy, and when such a media buffer is
    totally reasonable, given that Linus isn't
    "Linux PR" full-time.
  • I read the article, and its not this big accusation of (how dare he not answer the phone!) guilt, its a lighthearted and useless little commentary on how Linus (and Linux) has become a much bigger deal with the media, such that contacting him these days is more on par with contacting a celebrity than it used to be. The way everyone here is breathing defensive fire and brimstone about it comes off like a bunch of Scientologists defending L. Ron Hubbard.
  • I'm in an odd position: As a pseudo journalist I sometimes need to get ahold of people in that capacity, but I also have to deal regularly with media types who just want a lame quote for their article. After you answer the same questions time and time again, it gets amazingly tedious (And I've been known to tell reporters to read the FAQ too ;) I'm amazed Linus lasted this long. I hope that the levels of protection he's put in place give him some well deserved privacy.

    dear god. do i smell a little bit of ego from captain malda, golden boy of wired, newly-made millionare (so the whisperings go)? i think pseudo-reporter is too good for him---all i ever see on slashdot is articles that some guy wrote, some other guy found, and robbie takes credit for. i believe the quote-unquote-linux-community has a common enemy who's big on that sort of practices, but i won't say the word so you can't quote me.

    in fact, this is the most creative output that i think i've ever seen---i guess the topic of his own prowess is a little too sweet to dodge. and for someone who seems to me to be way into being just another member of this beautiful linux community we got goin' here, he sure seems to think we care what his opinion on such hot topics as mr.torvalds' personal life is!

    one tip, malda: if you're going to call yourself a pseudo-journalist, a demi-journalist, a gymno-journalist, or anything at all with the word 'journalist' in it, at least learn to freakin' spell. ok? do us all a favor.

    --neil

    IT'S ALL FUD, KIDS, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO SAY IT! ALL OF IT!

  • If you believe, like some do, that the revolution is really about seriously examining and perhaps dramatically modifying or even abolishing Intellectual Property Rights, then the revolution has only begun.

    In this scenario, Linux is just a pilot project, a proof-of-concept. It's being proven that innovation and value can be created in an environment where Intellectual Property is guaranteed to be owned by all. Now, we need to move on to the rest of society and tear down other examples of these 'false scarcities' and 'idea monopolies' that are stifling the free flow of information.

  • I was waiting for this piece of FUD to appear. The halloween docs mentioned this. I have often wondered weather this was a thinly veiled death threat to Linus. As for Linux it will most likely survive Linus and the rest of us.

  • Check out any newspaper that has a clearly partisan spin in it's 'news' articles. I've seen a lot of this in The New York Times and you also see it in places like The Wall Street Journal, etc.

    They try to give you a flavor, make an impression in the headlines and the first couple of paragraphs.

    If you read only the first few paragraphs of this article, you might think the Linux Revolution is over, that Linus himself is now out-of-touch and that all that's left is marketing and carefully managed press events.

    It's not until further down in the article does the author admit that this is just to be expected and that you can't blame Linus. You can't criticize the article, after all it's balanced if you're careful to read it. It's also not news.

    Know what? Journalists know that people are lazy and don't typically read past the first few paragraphs. And this is born out in the fact that most of the talkbackers didn't read the whole article as you pointed out.

    Don't be deceived. ZD 'journalists' are all about creating a world that's optimized for their advertisers. It's often difficult to tell what is an ad and what is an article in these trade rags.

    In fairness to the 'trade rags', it's a tough business and you don't succeed by upsetting your customers. The advertisers are the real customers here, subscribers pay a pittance of what it takes to produce this stuff. I read ZD and similar sources to know what it is that the big advertisers want me to believe this week.

    Giving the impression that Linux is all big business these days and that Linus himself has sold out and bought into a corporate mentality complete with faux polite handlers is perfectly in line with what ZD would like to see happen to Linux. They'd like to see it become totally corporate so that there would be more need for their own brand of pricey marketing. This is hampered by the counter-culture, revolutionary image that Linux has and the easy availability of real Linux news from low-profile avenues like Slashdot.

    Any positive press that Linux gets in these places are thanks to companies like Compaq, HP, IBM, RedHat, SGI, Sun, RedHat, and the rest selling Linux in a big way. The positive articles you've seen lately about Linux did not convince these big companies to support Linux, it's the other way around. The positive press has trailed after the big companies getting on the bandwagon.

  • Government mandated paid vacations. Of course, they're taxed to absurd levels anyway, which kinda follows. I've heard 85% to 90% of income is standard.
  • For information on almost everything regarding hacking, read The Jargon File [tuxedo.org] by Eric Steven Raymond. Oh, by the way, also MSNBC has a Linus-bashing article [msnbc.com]. They're really after him this time...



    Moo(__)
    \oo)
    |_/\

  • Re:Morons (Score:1)

    by hpa ( 7948 )
    No kidding. In fact, Linus is usually pretty good about getting back to journalists (they are at least around here pretty darn much all the time), but he wants something in writing (email or fax) first. Voice mail and phone calls are just an incredible pain.

    -hpa
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Just put that patch together and mail it to him. Otherwise, what the hell do you want from him? He releases kernels regularly and participates in discussions on the kernel mailing list. What on earth else do you want from him?
  • This article was produced because some guy wanted to write about Linux. He was pissed off that Linus wasn't available, so he wrote a fluff story. There is so little truth in this article it's ridiculous!! Who the fsck reads this stuff!?!?!

    To finalize my case, take the following quote from the article:

    Take his press Q+A session at the LinuxWorld Expo in San Jose earlier this month. Torvalds, who agreed to the session because he simply didn't have time to field the innumerable individual requests, first had to rattle off what were becoming familiar answers to familiar questions. Can open source work in the business world? Are you trying to rule software the way Bill Gates rules software? What do you think of Microsoft? What is open source? What is Linux? Why a penguin?

    Hello!?!!? For anyone who was actually there at LinuxWorld, the majority of Linus' talk centered around what features would be incorporated into furture versions of Linux, including various kernel modules and drivers (DVD, khttpd, FireWire, journailing FS, SMP scalability, etc.), and was NOT your standard BS mainstream-type info-session.

    Such blatantly careless journalism is inexusable.

    - jonathan.
  • I think you just answered the question why people don't trust you or in my case generally feel contempt.

    Journalists are supposed to prod, dig and keep that blowtorch close to the butts of politicians and others in power. When you are the ones in power you get in line and march with the rest.

    Pitiful IMO.

    /mill


  • See that key on the left and right side of the keyboard? Probably labeled: Shift, possibly with an up arrow, or some variant? Know what it does? Capitalizes words. If its so much trouble, why even bother with spaces? :)

    As for the rest of it: Blow me. Even if Rob had done nothing at all and received all the credit do you think it would be the first time it's happened? You want to pick on someone? Find a better target. My point being: judge not lest ye be judged. That's how it looks from here.
  • I hardly think that somebody is flattering himself if he says he's a "pseudo" anything. Sounds more like self-deprecation to me. What if some Slashdot contributor called himself a pseudo-geek or a pseudo-hacker? Is that a compliment? Suppose I said that your post is full of pseudo-intelligence. Wouldn't you take that as an insult?

    Taco is telling us that he sees both sides of this story. On the one hand, he wants to be able to get ahold of someone like Linus. On the other hand, he wants journalists to leave him alone, particularly the clueless ones. That is entirely appropriate commentary.

    one tip, malda: ... at least learn to freakin' spell. ok?

    And then you top it all off with a spelling flame! Sheesh!
  • This from some one with 'Send me Fan Mail' on their homepage!!!!!

    "Ohhh, I am like your BIGGEST FAN, reely I ma"

    [/;-)
  • This was a completely nothing article. It was a slow news day and the guy had nothing to write about, so he came up with the only negative thing left (all of the usual ZDnet FUD has been beaten into the dirt by now) with which to smear Linux: ad hominem attacks against its creator.

    But that's actually a good thing on a couple of levels. On the cheap-shot, anti-MS side (which I'm always willing to jab at) there's the very real notion that when someone has truly lost a debate but doesn't want to admit it, they resort to slinging mud. Maybe this guy is so motivated, maybe not. As they say, "I'm just sayin'". The other, more balanced way to look at it is that on a slow news day, journalists are willing write something, anything, about Linux, because they know it'll get them noticed and talked about one way or another.

    And that is a sure sign of Linux's success.
  • "Good morning. Thank you for calling Linus Torvalds. If you would like a quote concerning the following subjects, please type in your corporate expense credit card number now..."

    That's the way I'd play it. =)
  • He just should not isolate himself too much, like Billy Boy does. Or he will loose contact ..
    And putting up a shield is a sign of war (even though a defensive one :-)). A war with many fronts that should not be startet by the looser.
  • Linus has 5000 out of 5000 possible anonymous reporter connections at this time - please use a mirror site. Thank You.

    Chuck

  • Frag them!
    Just yesterday I repeated ten times one and the same thing to one journalist who wanted to write an article about Y2K. She hanged in some idea-fixed conception of it and "wanted" that I would support it. It was a comedy.

    Every time I would "near" her ideas she would get excited and give a standard question "anyway, you confirm...". However most of the conversation turned into an embroglio on explaining her that she was wrong from the start.

    A lot of modern journlistics are no more lies today. They are fantasy novels. The journalist gets into some stupid start-up idea and hangs on it. No matter what experts, tetimonies, friends and foes tell him, he goes up to the end with it.

    This article is not FUD. It is just one more product of these kind of journalists. I managed to see such situation several times. You are damn busy, you have a work to do. A journalist calls and you (un)politely send him to Hell. Next day you find in the 1st page, that you are not only a bastard, but also that only God knows what you're hidding out and what you're up to.

    Frankly the in the last times the only people I nearly broke their faces were journalists. One almost got his $1800 camera in his head. I told him FIVE times that I didn't want to be on the news...
  • right on. free all slaves. solve your own problems then those of the others - in that order.
  • >Serious question: How in the hell do so many >people in Western Europe afford to take 4+ weeks
    > of vacation? I couldn't do without >pay for over a week, much less afford a couple of >weeks in a
    > hotel room and eating-out without >being paid. I just don't understand.

    The real question is why do US employees stand for the way they get treated. The US is the odd
    country out not europe. In Australia the EU and most other developed countries at least 4 weeks paid holiday is the norm.

    Also when you go on holiday you don't have to stay in a 5 star hotel or a resort.... go backpacking
    in bali or thailand for $20US a day no problem...

    Remember there is more to life than putting in
    more hours than everyone else to climb the corporate ladder.
  • They had a broadcast about this on NPR this last weekend. Seems as though most of the people in France take all their vacations during the month of August, so that everything sort of stands still for a month until everyone gets back from Normandy or other popular vacation spots. The few who opt to take their vacation some other time end up at the office by themselves. Seems like a pretty interesting concept, of course it would never go over in the US.
  • journalists are supposed to prod, dig and keep that blowtorch close to the butts of politicians and others in power. When you are the ones in power you get in line and march with the rest.

    They are also supposto be objective a little difficult when your commenting on someone working for a diffrent news agentcy.
    Some news agentcys do comment on compeating agentcys all the time and I think thats sick and wrong.
    The last thing a reporter needs to worry about is how a fellow reporter will react to a news story.
    It dose bother me that many reporters do not do there own research and just piggyback on other reporters work. Thats not how it should be. One ZD reporter screws up and lets his opinions poision his work other reporters should be able to see passed the mistake and report the facts minus the addatude. But they don't fact check themselfs they end up just repeating what someone else said, opinions and addtudes in tact.

    However Mike of ABC seems to be one of the good guys and dosn't get into that BS and thats a GOOD thing.

  • I think it's very telling that Scott Berinato, the author of this piece of non-news, did not deign to offer up so much as an email address for himself, nevermind a phone number, fax, or voicemail.

    Mr. Berinato is in fact so throughly ensconced in his ivory fortress of journalism that those wishing to respond to his story are directed to the "talkback" forum at the bottom of the page. This "talkback" forum, in turn, is no longer accepting new posts, but instead directs readers to the ZDNet "News Forum Board", which requires one to register for an account before posting.

  • I don't know Scott Berinato's number, per se, but here's a URL with all sorts of direct contacts into PC-Week. Does anyone know which office Scott works out of, to narrow the search down?

    http://www.pcweekmar.com/html /contacts/editorial.shtm [pcweekmar.com]
    http://www.pcweekmar.com /html/editorial/edit_beatlist.shtm [pcweekmar.com]

    ----
  • There's only one richest man in the world

    Hmm, someone mentioned, and I haven't verified the rumor - that oil baron Rockefeller [denverpost.com], in inflation adjusted, constant dollar terms, was still richer than Gates is now. Again, unverified. Of course Einstein, not a wealthy person, was a much more influential and lasting legacy than Rockefeller anyway.

    Chuck
  • Yeah thats whats cool about Linus. He transends the hype rather than rides it.
    The Linux revolution isn't his. He dosn't fight it and dosn't care to get dragged into that asspect of things.
    Linus will tell you something like "It was something cool to do" when asked why he made Linux
    But ask Bill Gates the same about Windows and he'll launch into market hype about demmand when really he did it becouse it was at the time "cool".
    Once Linux becouse "uncool" to Linus he'll hand it over to AC and be done with it.
  • journalists didn't write, "welp, the microcomputer revolution is over - might as well go back to your mainframes" (that I'm aware of anyway).

    Chuck
  • Many people only read the first couple of paragraphs in a story and think they know the whole thing. That's why news stories are written in an "inverted triangle" putting the most important stuff first. Did you notice that in the first paragraph he says the "revolution is over go back to windows" and only later in the story (much less likely to be read) he says the revolution isn't over the leader is just tired of stupid questions. Might be accidental I guess...
  • I noticed that when I posed an article that disagrees with the ZD article - it is not posted.

    Perhaps because I called Scott Berinato and idiot for posting such a lame article, and that the article itself is another fine example of weak ZD-based journalism. They are obviously stooping to the "incite a riot" mentality that has taken over talk -radio.

    -drew
  • Interestingly enough, at the root page for ZDNN, if you read down their headlines in the "Rumors and Comment" section, they are:

    "Is it over for Linux?"

    "Win2K will ship this year"

    "Web journalists' dreams"

    Coincidence?

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