the man behind linux
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page 4: Timing is Everything
Upside: You have an interesting approach to capitalism. You appear to believe in some of the precepts of freeware, yet you're not against charging for software or services. When does it make sense to charge, and when does it makes sense to distribute things freely?
Torvalds: It always makes sense to charge. When I started, the reason I couldn't afford commercial [software] was because it was too expensive. And part of Linux is that I don't want anybody else to have to be in that situation--that's the "do unto others [as] you would [have others] do unto you" part. But at the same time, I don't think it's wrong to charge for it.
I'm not against money. Money is an interesting concept, but you need to choose what's most important. And I think Linux is great because if you're a company and you want to pay for 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year [service], you're going to pay a lot for that--even for Linux it's expensive [because] you're paying for guaranteed services. But then if you're a poor student and in a Third World country, maybe [free distribution of] Linux gives you the option of doing something new.
Good timing
Upside: Have you been surprised at either the speed or the direction of Linux development?
Torvalds: What happened last year had been brewing for a while. To some degree it was surprising [that] when one company decided to support Linux, how [so] many [other] companies decided to follow suit. Maybe there were a few more than I expected, but I was never sitting at home shocked, saying, "Wow!" It was more like, "Cool, yeah, it happened."
Upside: Wasn't there some good timing involved, too?
Torvalds: [Linux's success] is a combination of timing, needs and market opportunity. For example, when Linux was just developed, people didn't have CD-ROMs. Within a year of Linux becoming available, CDs were everywhere, and suddenly you had a cost-efficient way of distributing Linux in a commercial setting. So, the timing was perfect, and the Internet was also perfect timing. Linux was there before the Internet became popular, but the infrastructure was there to a degree that Linux could take advantage of it.
Upside: I also wonder whether Linux has come of age at an ideal time in terms of Microsoft's development.
Torvalds: For PR reasons, the Department of Justice's case has been one large fest of Microsoft-bashing. Two years ago, most people didn't question Microsoft. They took Microsoft for granted. People looked up to Microsoft for being big and successful and making lots of money, and people thought that was the American dream. The one thing the [DoJ's case] has done is that even people who liked Microsoft [before] don't like it [now].