Software patents, in particular, are very ripe for abuse. The whole system encourages big corporations getting thousands and thousands of patents. Individuals almost never get them.
Linus TorvaldsRead
I'm sitting in my home office wearing a bathrobe. The same way I'm not going to start wearing ties, I'm also not going to buy into the fake politeness, the lying, the office politics and backstabbing, the passive aggressiveness, and the buzzwords.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses a rejection of superficiality and dishonesty in professional settings.
Linus Torvalds emphasizes the importance of authenticity over convention in the workplace. He critiques the common practices of insincerity, including passive-aggressive behavior and the use of buzzwords, suggesting that true professionalism is characterized by honesty and straightforwardness, much like his casual choice of attire in a home office.
Themes
AuthenticityHonestyWorkplaceProfessionIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a speech about corporate culture to emphasize the need for authenticity.
More from Linus Torvalds
All quotes →I often compare open source to science. To where science took this whole notion of developing ideas in the open and improving on other peoples' ideas and making it into what science is today and the incredible advances that we have had. And I compare that to witchcraft and alchemy, where openness was something you didn't do.
Linus TorvaldsRead
Avoiding complexity reduces bugs.
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Most of the good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program.
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I have an ego the size of a small planet.
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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.
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