> Don't even think Linus should BE the person of the century. That honor > probably goes to Thomas Edison. We owe our current culture and style of
If you want to go with the guy who had the biggest slam-bang effect on everything, it's either Oppenheimer or Truman. > living to that guy. His experiments with his lightbulb led to the > discovery of the "Edison effect" which led DeForest to do some more > experiments which led to the Vacuum Tube which led to the Transistor, > which lead to the IC Chip. Not only was Edison's work responsible for > laying the ground work for radio and television, he also played vital > roles in bringing motion pictures and recorded music to the public. > > Linus Torvalds is probablt important but nowhere near THE most important. > Lets try to keep some perspective. I look at what Linus (leaving Stallman vs. Linus out for the moment) instigated (notice I don't say *did*, but instigation is what every candidate gets credit for anyway) and I honestly feel that it is unique and important, perhaps uniquely so. GNU/Linux is far and away the largest example of purely voluntary collaboration in the history of the planet. I say 'purely voluntary' because the developers of GNU/Linux were not starving, fighting for their lives, or trying to get ahead in the economic rat race. Their only motive was and is the creation of a superior system for their own use. This modus operandi of want --> voluntary unselfish colaboration --> result without any other waste involved has proven remarkably and hearteningly succesful. > -- > Unsubscribe? mail -s unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] < /dev/null Britton Kerin