Linus Quotes

The correct form factor for a laptop is obviously 12 and 2 lbs, and I don't understand why everybody gets that wrong. ~ Linus Torvalds

Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow. ~ Linus Torvalds

We all know Linux is great ... it does infinite loops in 5 seconds. ~ Linus Torvalds

Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton ... I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by ... If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations ... What do you think you see, Linus?"
"Well, those clouds up there look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean ... That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor ... And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen ... I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side ... "
"Uh huh ... That's very good ... What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?"
"Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind! ~ Charles M. Schulz

I don't expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places. ~ Linus Torvalds

It will be possible, through the detailed determination of amino-acid sequences of hemoglobin molecules and of other molecules too, to obtain much information about the course of the evolutionary process, and to illuminate the question of the origin of species. ~ Linus Pauling

When you've got good writing, you can kind of give up all the research, in a way, and start just following the emotional integrity of the journey of your character. ~ Linus Roache

It seems to me that whatever path you choose to take, in the end its up to each of us to try, test and live what we find out, to apply it and see what actually works, and that's the exciting and challenging part of this very real adventure. ~ Linus Roache

When I thought about my old friends Linus Lucas and Theo, I realized they were not really criminals either. They were like me. We were just acting out the strangest, tragic little roles, pretending to be criminals in order to get by. We gave very convincing performances. ~ Heather O'Neill

I just love variety. I love being able to do different things. Do period pieces and sci-fi. I love being able to move between genres and be flexible. ~ Linus Roache

Only wimps use tape backup. REAL men just upload their important stuff on ftp and let the rest of the world mirror it. ~ Linus Torvalds

My gaze drifts up again to the break in the wall and the night sky beyond it. 'So why call this the Keep of Ages?' I ask.
'Maybe they hoped it would stand forever,' Linus says. 'It's about timelessness.'
'Immortality,' Burnham says.
I smile. 'Ironic, isn't it, since it's crumbling? ~ Caragh M. O'Brien

No problem is too big it can't be run away from ~ Linus Torvalds

Optimum nutrition is the medicine of tomorrow. ~ Linus Pauling

The cyberspace earnings I get from Linux come in the format of having a Network of people that know me and trust me, and that I can depend on in return. ~ Linus Torvalds

There is no area of the world that should not be investigated by scientists. There will always remain some questions that have not been answered. In general, these are the questions that have not yet been posed. ~ Linus Pauling

Do not let either the medical authorities or the politicians mislead you. Find out what the facts are, and make your own decisions about how to live a happy life and how to work for a better world. ~ Linus Pauling

I love working in films. ~ Linus Roache

It would be possible to make much more progress than has been made if the NCI knew its job better, knew how to make discoveries ... The NCI really does not know how to make discoveries ... So long as the NCI is not willing to follow up ideas that seem good to people who have had experience making discoveries, the work of the NCI is going to be pedestrian. ~ Linus Pauling

I'd argue that everybody wants to do something that matters ~ Linus Torvalds

There were open source projects and free software before Linux was there. Linux in many ways is one of the more visible and one of the bigger technical projects in this area, and it changed how people looked at it because Linux took both the practical and ideological approach. ~ Linus Torvalds

I can mostly laugh at myself and this whole mess called "Linux developers," which means that I get along with most people and most people get along with me. ~ Linus Torvalds

I recognize that many physicists are smarter than I am-most of them theoretical physicists. A lot of smart people have gone into theoretical physics, therefore the field is extremely competitive. I console myself with the thought that although they may be smarter and may be deeper thinkers than I am, I have broader interests than they have. ~ Linus Pauling

Fairly cheap home computing was what changed my life. ~ Linus Torvalds

One of the reasons that I really don't mind that people are selling Linux commercially is exactly because it does make me feel good that people use the product. ~ Linus Torvalds

In my opinion MS is a lot better at making money than it is at making good operating systems. ~ Linus Torvalds

Part of doing Linux was that I had to communicate a lot more instead of just being a geek in front of a computer. ~ Linus Torvalds

If the structure that serves as a template (the gene or virus molecule) consists of, say, two parts, which are themselves complementary In structure, then each of these parts can serve as the mould for the production of a replica of the other part, and the complex of two complementary parts thus can serve as the mould for the production of duplicates of itself. ~ Linus Pauling

Theory and practice sometimes clash. And when that happens, theory loses. Every single time. ~ Linus Torvalds

Real quality means making sure that people are proud of the code they write, that they're involved and taking it personally. ~ Linus Torvalds

Hmmm, completely a-religious - atheist. I find that people seem to think religion brings morals and appreciation of nature. I actually think it detracts from both. ~ Linus Torvalds

Let's put it this way: if you need to ask a lawyer whether what you do is right or not, you are morally corrupt. Let's not go there. We don't base our morality on law. ~ Linus Torvalds

I may make jokes about Microsoft at times, but at the same time, I think the Microsoft hatred is a disease. ~ Linus Torvalds

Helsinki isn't all that bad. It's a very nice city, and it's cold really only in wintertime. ~ Linus Torvalds

Heisenberg has discussed the coupled double harmonic oscillator, and has shown that the ordinary rules of quantization lead to two non-combining sets of states in one of which the electrons are in phase and out of phase. The energy of the system is successively transferred from one to the other - resonance! ~ Linus Pauling

Any program is only as good as it is useful. ~ Linus Torvalds

If you count my childhood appearances in a few TV shows and being the son of two well-known actor parents in the U.K., plus three years of drama school, you could say that I've been pretty much surrounded by the business of acting and performing my entire life. ~ Linus Roache

I have something that I call my Golden Rule. It goes something like this: 'Do unto others twenty-five percent better than you expect them to do unto you.' ... The twenty-five percent is for error. ~ Linus Pauling

Life ... is a relationship between molecules. ~ Linus Pauling

I obviously think that freely available software can not only keep up with the evolution of commercial software, but often exceed what you can do commercially. ~ Linus Torvalds

I realised success as an actor alone wouldn't make me happy. I needed to explore my spiritual side in more depth. ~ Linus Roache

Me trying to make a business around Linux would have been a total disaster. ~ Linus Torvalds

I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up. ~ Linus Torvalds

That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle. ~ Linus Torvalds

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy ... How can I ever forget them ... ~ Charles M. Schulz

One of the reasons I like open source is that it allows people to work on the parts they are good at, and I don't mean just on a technical level; some people are into the whole selling and support, and that's just not me. ~ Linus Torvalds

A lot of people want to have market share numbers, lots of users, because that's how they view their self worth. For me, one of the most important things for Linux is having a big community that is actively testing new kernels; it's the only way to support the absolute insane amount of different hardware we deal with. ~ Linus Torvalds

I believe that there is a greater power in the world than the evil power of military force, of nuclear bombs
there is the power of good, of morality, of humanitarianism. ~ Linus Pauling

There are literally several levels of SCO being wrong. And even if we were to live in that alternate universe where SCO would be right, they'd still be wrong. ~ Linus Torvalds

In science, the whole system builds on people looking at other people's results and building on top of them. In witchcraft, somebody had a small secret and guarded it - but never allowed others to really understand it and build on it. Traditional software is like witchcraft. In history, witchcraft just died out. The same will happen in software. When problems get serious enough, you can't have one person or one company guarding their secrets. You have to have everybody share in the knowledge. ~ Linus Torvalds

The bulk of all patents are crap. Spending time reading them is stupid. It's up to the patent owner to do so, and to enforce them. ~ Linus Torvalds

My favorite cartoon character, Charlie Brown, displayed an attitude with which many of us can identify. He and Linus were talking about their problems. Linus said, "I guess it's wrong always to be worrying about tomorrow. Maybe we should think only about today." Charlie Brown replied, "No, that's giving up. I'm still hoping that yesterday will get better." What ~ John C. Maxwell

It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear ... It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to. ~ Marilyn Ferguson

When I went to drama school, I thought that everybody would think I was only there because my dad was on TV. ~ Linus Roache

You have to have a lot of ideas. First, if you want to make discoveries, it's a good thing to have good ideas. And second, you have to have a sort of sixth sense-the result of judgment and experience-which ideas are worth following up. I seem to have the first thing, a lot of ideas, and I also seem to have good judgment as to which are the bad ideas that I should just ignore, and the good ones, that I'd better follow up. ~ Linus Pauling

The nucleic acids, as constituents of living organisms, are comparable In importance to proteins. There is evidence that they are Involved In the processes of cell division and growth, that they participate In the transmission of hereditary characters, and that they are important constituents of viruses. An understanding of the molecular structure of the nucleic acids should be of value In the effort to understand the fundamental phenomena of life. ~ Linus Pauling

I try to identify myself with the atoms ... I ask what I would do If I were a carbon atom or a sodium atom. ~ Linus Pauling

I personally think of Linux development as being pretty non-localized, and I work with all the people entirely over e-mail - even if they happen to be working in the Portland area. ~ Linus Torvalds

What's that?"
"It looks like something from Linus ... It is! He sent me a little birch-bark canoe from camp! He said he made it himself ... Sometimes I think I don't deserve a nice brother like Linus ... "
"I have often thought the same thing."
"Dear Linus, please send me another canoe. The first one broke when I threw it at Charlie Brown. ~ Charles M. Schulz

Linus: Nothing goes on forever. All good things must come to an end ...
Charlie: When do the good things start? ~ Charles M. Schulz

I'm basically a very lazy person who likes to get credit for things other people actually do. ~ Linus Torvalds

Non-technical questions sometimes don't have an answer at all. ~ Linus Torvalds

There's so much cynicism around in Britain, especially in the press. The American press might be naive, but at least you feel as if they're on your side. ~ Linus Roache

I believe that you can, by taking some simple and inexpensive measures, lead a longer life and extend your years of well-being. My most important recommendation is that you take vitamins every day in optimum amounts to supplement the vitamins that you receive in your food. ~ Linus Pauling

Every once in a while an issue comes up where I have to make a statement. I can't totally avoid all political issues, but I try my best to minimize them. When I do make a statement, I try to be fairly neutral. ~ Linus Torvalds

Nations keep agreements, keep their treaties so long as they continue to do them good. ~ Linus Pauling

There is no safe amount of radiation. Even small amounts do harm. ~ Linus Pauling

Trying to act cold is a challenge when your makeup's running and sweat is pouring down your neck. ~ Linus Roache

I like offending people, because I think people who get offended should be offended. ~ Linus Torvalds

I don't actually go to that many conferences. I do that a couple of times a year. Normally, I am not recognized; people don't throw their panties at me. I'm a perfectly normal person sitting in my den just doing my job. ~ Linus Torvalds

A computer is like air conditioning - it becomes useless when you open Windows ~ Linus Torvalds

Whoever came up with "hold the shift key for eight seconds to turn on 'your keyboard is buggered' mode" should be shot. ~ Linus Torvalds

I went into the room and sat next to Linus on the bed. I put my hand on his shoulder. I was always surprised at how soft other people were. I thought I felt his heartbeat, although it could have been my own. ~ Heather O'Neill

People enjoy the interaction on the Internet, and the feeling of belonging to a group that does something interesting: that's how some software projects are born. ~ Linus Torvalds

Linus: It was a short summer, Charlie Brown.
Charlie Brown: And it looks like it's gonna be a looong winter. ~ Charles M. Schulz

Charlie Brown: I can't get that Little Red-Haired Girl out of my mind..
Linus: Why don't you call her up, Charlie Brown?
Charlie Brown: I'm afraid she'll hang up in my face!
Linus: That's the beauty of calling her on the phone. One ear isn't a whole face! (28 August 78)
Charlie Brown: Hello? Information? Yes, I'd like to talk to a certain Little Red-Haired Girl... No I already have her number... I was hoping you could tell me something else... What do I do when she answers the phone? (29 August 78) ~ Charles M. Schulz

Well from now on, Linus think for yourself ... Don't take any advice from anyone! ~ Charles M. Schulz

There are "extremists" in the free software world, but that's one major reason why I don't call what I do "free software" any more. I don't want to be associated with the people for whom it's about exclusion and hatred. ~ Linus Torvalds

I have one very basic rule when it comes to "good ideas". A good idea is not an idea that solves a problem cleanly. A good idea is an idea that solves several things at the same time. The mark of good coding is not that the program does what you want, it's that it also does something that you didn't start out wanting. ~ Linus Torvalds

I've felt strongly that the advantage of Linux is that it doesn't have a niche or any special market, but that different individuals and companies end up pushing it in the direction they want, and as such you end up with something that is pretty balanced across the board. ~ Linus Torvalds

Just one living cell in the human body is, more complex than New York City. ~ Linus Pauling

I don't have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I'm doing. ~ Linus Torvalds

I miss my old paycheck and the sense of pride, power, and worth that it gave me. I make a lot less money now. A lot less. But what I've lost in dollars, I've gained in time. I have time in the afternoons now to help Charlie and Lucy with their homework, to play Wii with them, to watch Charlie's soccer games, to take a nap with Linus. I can't wait to spend afternoons snowboarding. I have time to paint a portrait of Lucy (my only child who will sit still long enough) or the apples we picked at the local orchard. I have time to read novels, to meditate, to watch the deer walk across the backyard, to have dinner every night with my family. Less money, more time. So far, the trade-off has been worth every penny. ~ Lisa Genova

An amino acid residue (other than glycine) has no symmetry elements. The general operation of conversion of one residue of a single chain into a second residue equivalent to the first is accordingly a rotation about an axis accompanied by translation along the axis. Hence the only configurations for a chain compatible with our postulate of equivalence of the residues are helical configurations. ~ Linus Pauling

Science is the search for truth. ~ Linus Pauling

I very seldom worry about other systems. I concentrate pretty fully on just making Linux the best I can. ~ Linus Torvalds

You have no idea what Linus is thinking. It could be good, it could be bad. Most likely, it's nothing at all. He's a boy. You'd better get used to that. ~ Sophie Kinsella

Once you start thinking more about where you want to be than about making the best product, you're screwed. ~ Linus Torvalds

Science is the search for truth, that is the effort to understand the world: it involves the rejection of bias, of dogma, of revelation, but not the rejection of morality. ~ Linus Pauling

During the time that Landsteiner gave me an education in the field of immunology, I discovered that he and I were thinking about the serologic problem in very different ways. He would ask, What do these experiments force us to believe about the nature of the world? I would ask, What is the most. simple and general picture of the world that we can formulate that is not ruled by these experiments? I realized that medical and biological investigators were not attacking their problems the same way that theoretical physicists do, the way I had been in the habit of doing. ~ Linus Pauling

I have an ego the size of a small planet ~ Linus Torvalds

Linus entered the elevator while the grownups talked and looked at the buttons. Buttons covered all the walls, and even the door. He pressed one, and with the luck that comes to children in fancy hotels, it was the fire alarm. ~ Ella Minster

I have been especially fortunate for about 50 years in having two memory banks available-whenever I can't remember something I ask my wife, and thus I am able to draw on this auxiliary memory bank. Moreover, there is a second way In which I get ideas ... I listen carefully to what my wife says, and in this way I often get a good idea. I recommend to ... young people ... that you make a permanent acquisition of an auxiliary memory bank that you can become familiar with and draw upon throughout your lives. ~ Linus Pauling

I've tried it a couple of times over the years, mainly because the thing Ubuntu did so well was make Debian usable. I always felt that Debian was a pointless exercise because to me, the point of a distribution is to make everything easy. Easy to install, to be pretty and to be friendly and Ubuntu did that to Debian. ~ Linus Torvalds

It was obvious-to me at any rate-that the answer was to why an enzyme is able to speed up a chemical reaction by as much as 10 million times. It had to do this by lowering the energy of activation-the energy of forming the activated complex. It could do this by forming strong bonds with the activated complex, but only weak bonds with the reactants or products. ~ Linus Pauling

Nobody actually creates perfect code the first time around, except me. But there's only one of me. ~ Linus Torvalds

If it is relevant there is always somebody else out there. ~ Linus Torvalds

Personally, I'm not interested in making device drivers look like user-level. They aren't, they shouldn't be, and microkernels are just stupid. ~ Linus Torvalds

I want my office to be quiet. The loudest thing in the room - by far - should be the occasional purring of the cat. ~ Linus Torvalds

In many cases, the user interface to a program is the most important part for a commercial company: whether the programs works correctly or not seems to be secondary. ~ Linus Torvalds