Happy 20th birthday Linux!

20 years ago today, a programmer named Linus Torvalds from Finland posted a message on a newsgroup on the 25th August 1991:

Hello everybody out there using minix -

I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.  This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready.  I’d like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things)…

Check out the article in ExtremeTech. All I can say is, Linux is a godsend. Thank you Mr Torvalds!

Think different: be a rebel

I have been accused of being many things: an uncompromising SOB, a person who wants to do things his own way, someone too frank and outspoken. At first I thought it was just me. Truth be told, I would rather have it out in the open than carry hidden agendas. In short, I do not beat around the bush and so I may seem like I am too much of an “in your face” kind of person. Well, I would hardly consider that a virtue…until I came across this passage above

Now, before all you guys accuse me of being an Apple fanboi or zealot…I am not. I do not own a Macbook, Mac Pro or even an iPhone. My wife has an iPad that I play with occasionally but that is about it. I have always been a PC guy with a strong interest in Linux and open-source. But I do give credit where it is true. It does not mean that I hate Steve Jobs. On the contrary, I admire him. I have got nothing against Steve Jobs…its his fan club that I cannot stand

Anyway, the passage above resonated with me. I have been a rebel and I acknowledge that. I am not the easiest of people to work with but I am to the point and I hate back stabbing. If I do not like what you propose, I will tell you straight-off. But I also believe in thinking out of the box…going against the grain…doing what no one else would do. And so, I conform to the kind of person that the Apple message above is referring to.

Read it…and be inspired. I know I was.