Editor’s Note: 50,000 Glimpses, One Web Site

By Brian Proffitt
Managing Editor

50,000.

It’s a five with four zeros after it. Nothing special on its
own.

A tidy sum of money if you won the lottery. The population of a
small city, not too big, not too small.

Somehow numbers with a few zeroes seem to have some special
meaning for those of us who use base-10 math. “Fifty” has its own
meaning, too. The length of a good, long marriage… about half of
a human lifetime.

Today, the meaning for Linux Today is a happy one. A few hours
ago, this site posted its 50,000th story.

There was no fanfare, no loud cheering. It was a sort-of-average
story about a new Linux-cluster supercomputer at St. Jude’s
Childrens Hospital. It was posted to mark yet another success story
for this operating system that so many people feel so strongly
about.

People ask me what is it about Linux that draws such a strong
following. It is, after all, just a collection of code put together
by a bunch of developers from around the world. Why does it evoke
such passion, such loyalty, such devotion by those who use it?

Is it the license?

Is it the quality of the software?

It is the sense of rebellion against corporate forces?

Yes, but that’s not all.

It is not only just these things. It is a sense of purpose that
those who create the software feel when they improve that one last
bit of code before the final release. It is a sense of satisfaction
that the end-user feels because they know that if they want to,
they can change anything they want about this tool sitting on their
screen.

It is, like all things in our lives, different things for
different people.

For me, who signs almost every missive with the word “Peace,”
Linux means this:

It is a collection of code put together by a bunch of
developers…

…from around the world.

It transcends boundaries and cultures. It lets people be a part
of something that is bigger than all of them individually.

Each story on this site shows us a small part of that thing
called Linux that is bigger than all of us. We may like the part we
see; we may hate it. We argue, we agree, we each view the larger
picture in our own individual ways.

This web site has shown its readers 50,000 glimpses of Linux and
how it affects the world around us. It will continue to show more
glimpses for as long as we have the pleasure of your company.

Thank you for that company, and peace.