Torvalds: Why I Don't Quit the Day Job
Creator notes Linux progress, hints at what his Transmeta start-up is all about.
by Jack McCarthy, IDG News Service
November 16, 1999, 5:58 a.m. PT
LAS VEGAS -- Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux open source operating system, pointed to the increased popularity of the open-source movement Monday night here at Comdex, and for the first time spoke publicly about the secretive start-up where he works.
Torvalds spoke to more than 5000 enthusiastic open-source supporters, telling jokes and giving updates on the progress of Linux.
"I was going to start with a lawyer joke, but I'm told it was already done yesterday," said Torvalds, referring to Bill Gates's speech Sunday night.
Torvalds prodded Gates another time in his speech, using a David Letterman-like Top Ten list for using the open-source development method. The number one reason for its use, he said, was "You won't get sued for anticompetitive behavior."
In the wireless communications arena, he said, Windows CE "didn't cut it ... especially when you cram into a small space, you need flexibility."
Appearing in appliances, Linux also is being employed for more and more complex tasks: "We are going for high-end hardware."
Linux 2.4, the next kernel version, which will be released next year, will be able to support a high-end architecture. It will go from supporting machines with dual or quad Pentium IIs and 1GB of memory as of one year ago to machines incorporating eight-way Pentium IIIs with 8GB or more of memory.
That's One Smart CPU
For the first time, Torvalds spoke publicly about Transmeta, the secretive start-up where he has his day job. The company, he said, will give "full disclosure" January 19. "We are doing a smart CPU, which will be the first microprocessor using software to do a lot of stuff."
I've been promoting the open-source method and I've been working for a company that is closed," he acknowledged.
The industry rumor about Transmeta is that it is working on a cheaper and easier-to-manufacture microprocessor that can run any operating system.
A new message on the company's Web site confirmed that the company would release the information regarding its Crusoe processor on January 19.
A "secret message" embedded in the source code of the Web page stated that Transmeta would announce and demonstrate the processor on that date. "Crusoe will be cool hardware and software for mobile applications," the message said. "Crusoe will be unconventional."
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