Linus Torvalds, Others Honored In Silicon Valley

[LinuxMint-4]

Linux Creator Linus Torvalds, Others Honored In Silicon Valley

The Computer History Museum also recognized Jean Bartik, one of the first programmers of ENIAC, and Bob Metcalfe, the father of Ethernet networking, at its annual Fellow Awards ceremony.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/sof ... ction=News


By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek
October 22, 2008 11:26 AM

The Computer History Museum Tuesday night honored three legends in the industry, including Linux-creator Linus Torvalds whose operating system became the catalyst for the open-source software movement that challenged traditional concepts of intellectual property.

Along with Torvalds, the museum honored at its annual Fellow Awards ceremony Jean Bartik, one of the first programmers of the ENIAC computing system that later evolved into the first stored-program computer; and Bob Metcalfe, who led the invention, standardization and commercialization of the Ethernet local-area networking system for PCs.


Torvalds, 38, described how he worked alone on Linux for six months at Helsinki University of Technology before accepting help from other developers. "It actually took awhile before I learned to trust people," he said.

As time went on, Torvalds found people who understood what he was trying to do and were willing to contribute code to the nascent operating system that would one day challengeMicrosoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Windows in running business applications on computer servers. Key to Linux's success was the open-source model used in its development.

Bartik, 83, majored in mathematics at Northwest Missouri State Teachers College and was hired in 1945 by the University of Pennsylvania to work for Army Ordnance at Aberdeen Proving Ground. It was there that the ENIAC computer was developed for calculating ballistics trajectories. She and the other "ENIAC women" developed the system's first program, which performed a trajectory calculation in 20 seconds. The time was shorter than it took for the ballistic to fall back to Earth. That took 30 seconds.

Despite their work on the trajectory program, Bartik and the other women were not invited out with the men to celebrate the success of ENIAC. "No one paid attention to the ENIAC women," Bartik said. That changed in 1986 when their accomplishments were highlighted in a column in the Wall Street Journal.

Following the ENIAC work, Bartik joined another group of programmers that helped in converting the computing system into the first stored-program computer. She was inducted in 1997 into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame, along with the other original ENIAC programmers.

Metcalfe, 62, started his work in networking after taking a job as a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His job with MIT's ProjectMAC was to build the high-speed interface that would connect the school's minicomputers with ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet that was developed by the Defense Department. Metcalfe took the job with MIT after Harvard refused to let him be responsible for connecting the university to ARPANET.

Metcalfe later joined Xerox (NYSE: XRX) PARC, the legendary computer lab that developed the first graphical user interface for the PC, "because they paid me more than anybody else," he said. It was there in 1973 that Metcalfe and David Boggs invented Ethernet, which became the standard for connecting computers over a LAN.

Metcalfe left PARC and founded 3Com (NSDQ: COMS), a manufacturer of computer networking equipment, in 1979. The company shipped its first Ethernet card for the IBM (NYSE: IBM) PC in December 1982. The inventor is also credited with Metcalfe's Law, which is a mathematical formula that shows that the value of a network increases with the number of attached nodes, such as computers, fax machines and printers. Metcalfe said he developed the formula in order to convince skeptical customers of the value of building a LAN using 3Com's Ethernet equipment.

At the close of the ceremony, Metcalfe was the only honoree to take the stage, thanking the museum and attendees on behalf of him and his colleagues. "Any excuse for a party, that's my motto," he said of the ceremony.

[greggh]

including Linux-creator Linus Torvalds whose operating system became the catalyst for the open-source software movement that challenged traditional concepts of intellectual property.

Nope. Nope Nope. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

There is just so much wrong there, and on so many levels, I hardly know where to start.

1. Linux is not an OS.

2. The OS GNU/Linux is not Linus's OS but was started by Stallman and the GNU project, with a later key piece added by Linus.

3. It was Stallman and his creation of the GPL and the concept of the "copyleft" that challenged the traditional concepts of "intellectual property", or to be accurate, copyright.

4. "Open Source" didn't seek to challenge anything. Actually the term was invented as a way to talk about FREE SOFTWARE without ever actually talking about freedom, or challenging any important traditional concepts . In my opinion it's a coward's movement, and a coward's term.

5. It was Stallman, the GPL, the "copyleft", and the Free Software Movement that challenged the traditional concepts of copyright, and weren't afraid to say openly that that's what they were doing.

[greggh]

I've just been smacked down point by point by James Bottomley, a Director of the Linux Foundation and Chair of its Technical Advisory Board. http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/e ... ONYA00B564

http://www.informationweek.com/news/sof ... ction=News

1. Linux is not an OS.

Yes it is. If you look at the original UNIX books, you'll see the kernel referred to as the Operating System. Having interaction programs that increase usability is helpful but not required for the definition (although they are required to get actual users).

2. The OS GNU/Linux is not Linus's OS but was
started by Stallman and the GNU project, with a
later key piece added by Linus.

Linux began life as a freely redistributable POSIX compliant kernel that could run Minix programs. The connection with GNU came later, so it's not historically accurate to imply that Linux was designed to complete the GNU project.

3. It was Stallman and his creation of the GPL
and the concept of the "copyleft" that
challenged the traditional concepts of
"intellectual property", or to be accurate,
copyright.

This seems to be true, but not really germane to the discussion.

4. "Open Source" didn't seek to challenge
anything. Actually the term was invented as a
way to talk about FREE SOFTWARE without ever
actually talking about freedom, or challenging
any important traditional concepts . In my
opinion it's a coward's movement, and a
coward's term.

This is wrong on many levels. Firstly, Open Source as implemented by Linux spreads "freedom" more widely than subscribing to the GNU principles precisely because it doesn't force a rigid philosophy. This elasticity is a necessary ingredient ... just see if you can get Republicans and Democrats in the current US electoral cycle to agree about what "freedom" means. However, I bet you they can both agree that America is the Land of the "free". In many ways in the US "freedom" appears as a direct consequence of this tension. It's certainly not something prescribed rigidly by the constitution.

Secondly, Linux actively engages with other interests (like corporations and end users) in an ongoing dialogue about how to make things better. Most of this dialogue involves bringing the participants to an understanding of what's required to participate equitably in the development process and directly challenges the old proprietary closed source models at their source, with considerable (but not universal) success, I might add.

Finally, it's not cowardice for us not to advocate for your position ... it's actually called intellectual freedom. It could, however, be construed as cowardice to indulge in obscure sniping at the success of other people simply because you believe your movement hasn't achieved the success or recognition it deserves. Please stop wallowing in self pity and get out there and advocate for your position ... we'll do the same for ours and if a fraction of the audience actually begins to think about the issues, it will be a success ... for both of our camps.

5. It was Stallman, the GPL, the "copyleft",
and the Free Software Movement that challenged
the traditional concepts of copyright, and
weren't afraid to say openly that that's what
they were doing.

This is basically a slight rewrite of your point 3., I think.