The Mercury News: Linux Creator an Open Source

“Linus Torvalds is the creator of the Linux operating system,
the open source version of Unix that is sweeping through the
software world in a direct challenge to Microsoft. He is a
technical leader and an outspoken advocate of open source
development, which allows software users to develop and modify
their own versions of software for free. He spoke candidly with
Mercury News staff writer Dean Takahashi about the lawsuit from SCO
Group versus IBM (where Big Blue is accused of illegally putting
Unix code into Linux), on Microsoft and open source development. He
also shed light on his decision to leave chip maker Transmeta for a
Linux corporate software consortium, the Open Source Development
Lab. Here is an edited transcript:

“Q: The SCO Group has sued IBM for illegally
contributing Unix code to Linux. Do you believe this episode
reveals any vulnerabilities in the open source movement?

“A: Not really. Open source software is very
visible. That means it’s very easy to see if there is something
wrong. I think that is a good thing. I think the whole point is
that, with the kind of transparency you get with open source,
people are a lot less likely to ever have intellectual property
issues. I compare it to stealing a car. Do you steal a car in the
bright daylight with a lot of people around? Or do you steal a car,
go for a joyride at 4 am in the morning when there aren’t a lot of
people around. With open source, there is a lot of daylight. A lot
of people looking at the code. You don’t really go around and steal
things…”

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