“How did you first learn about Linux? What were you doing in
your own life at the time?”
“Alan Cox: I was hacking bits of ideas for my own OS and working
on a MUD called AberMUD. I had pondered getting a decent PC, since
the Amiga was getting a bit long in the tooth. 386BSD came out, and
it looked like there was finally an OS worth running on x86
hardware. Linux came out around the same time, but didn’t need an
FPU, so I started running Linux.”
“What attracted you to it, compared to FreeBSD, proprietary Unix
systems, or lucrative areas such as Windows? What made you want to
help with development?”
“Alan: Linux was a lot easier to set up in the early days; MCC
Linux and then SLS made it really easy to install by the standards
of the time. I looked at the BSD systems, but I liked the way the
GPL meant I was writing code that nobody could run off with. I
didn’t really chose not to hack 386BSD; I was just having too much
fun with Linux to bother….”
“What was most important to you about Linux? What’s the very
best thing about Linux?”
“Alan: I think the most important thing about Linux is that
it gives people the ability to do what they want. The “Penguin
Powered” logos people love should really be “Penguin Empowered”.
That, I think, is the best thing about Linux, too. We’ve given the
computer back to the user.“