“Mr. Torvalds didn’t reveal anything new about himself or the
company he works for. He didn’t come armed to the teeth with
devices to demonstrate how his company’s products will result in a
“Web lifestyle.” Which may be why, following his remarks, onlookers
began fleeing during the Q&A session. The masses sought
religion, but instead, Linus gave them chat lite….”
“The assembled lot — many of whom had waited two-and-a-half
hours for the speech — was fickle. Many of them booed and jeered
when Mr. Torvalds first mentioned Microsoft early in his
speech. Several people cheered five minutes later when he
announced he felt no personal vendetta against Microsoft. He
explained that open-source software, by nature, fosters positive
competition….”
“Better yet, ask MBNA (NYSE: KRB). The world’s largest
independent credit card issuer held court at the show. The bank
milked Linux hype by cutting an affinity deal with the
Linuxfund.org, a group that supports development efforts to
“enhance the long-term viability of Linux and open-source
software.” MBNA’s credit card has no annual fee but carries an
annual percentage rate of at least 12.9 percent. Big deal.”