Linus Torvalds Receives 2012 Millennium Technology Prize

[manicmike]

I never heard of this award before today, but seeing that Linux is getting this (and not some dead guy affiliated with a certain "fruit" logoed company), gives this award much more credibility.

I won't say I disagree with you there, but the three biggies in tech (Jobs, Gates, and Torvalds) kinda of did it all together.

Wozniak (or however it's spelled) was some nerd who figured out how to make a simple personal computer affordably. But it was Jobs that managed to sell the idea of a "Personal [Home] Computer" to people (and apparently Gates bitched at them about it, something about stealing ideas blah blah blah).

I digress, Jobs is only famous in technology because he was able to sell (other people's) ideas and give general marketing advice (stuff should get smaller blah blah blah), Gates helped invent the standard GUI to some extent, but Torvalds went bigger. As many have said Linux is found on everything from servers to routers to switches to smartphones... The list goes on. Even people who have never heard of Linux reap the fruits of his labor on an almost daily basis. And if he had made his creation a proprietary device as did the others, no one can deny that the world would be a much different place (keep in mind that the EULA's make it illegal to alter any of the Windows or Mac OSs, at least to the best of my knowledge)

It's about damn time someone who actually deserved an award got one. (Being a salesman doesn't aid the advancement of humanity, unless of course it advances the digits in your total net worth)

 

[freggo]

Well deserved !
Goes to show it is not all about making Gazillions of $$.

 

[nitto555rchallenger]

I'm wondering why he was never offered the award sooner.

 

[PreferLinux]

[citation][nom]hoofhearted[/nom]I never heard of this award before today, but seeing that Linux is getting this (and not some dead guy affiliated with a certain "fruit" logoed company), gives this award much more credibility.[/citation]
Not to reduce its credibility any, but Linus is Finnish as far as I know, as is the award.

[citation][nom]madooo12[/nom]actually UNIX is, that's why I think Dennis Richie was more worthy to be known than steve jobs (he was found dead a week after steve jobs died)and linux is built on UNIX, nearly all OSs are (BSD, OSX, BBX, IOS, Android.....->) except MS ones , but they are progammed by C which is also made by some people and Dennis Richie was one of them[/citation]
Actually, Linux is not based on Unix, it is only Unix-like. Since Android uses the Linux kernel, it is based on Linux – not Unix.

 

[eddieroolz]

To be completely honest, this guy deserves more credit and fame for his role. A lot of things we use every day on the web runs on Linux.

 

[gray_fox_98]

Congratulations Linus.
Probably one of the most underrated Developers ever.
He got to be one of the most humble persons in the IT field , considering the extension of his work.
Linux Rocks.

 

[archange]

It would be cool if EVERY Android-based phone manufacturer would donate one of each new flagship model to Linus, as an homage. He would be the owner of the coolest gallery of tech gadgets in no time, in addition to being recognized for his work in making it possible.

 

[agatha666]

Good thing he didn't join apple!

 

[sonofliberty08]

Linus was the God! Jobs isn't 😛