Linus Torvald VS Bill Gates

[Fluffy]

It was for english class so its we made Bill gates look less bad then he is but here is the final product:

Bill Gates, the wealthiest man on earth, stands in the head of "Microsoft", the biggest software company in the world. Microsoft imprinted a new innovation in the computer world since Gates was the first programmer to claim rights on programs' source codes.

Although there is no doubt that Bill Gates and Microsoft Corporation had contributed a lot to the computer world the ramifications of this contribution on the computer world were not only positive. The idea of charging money for software for example may have boosted the evolution of the computer world in the early 90's, but in the long term it caused the capitalization of the software industry.

On the other aspect of the matter stands the total opposite of Microsoft, the Open Source community. The community is known for its mutual assistance and support among its users. The costumer support centres and forums were put in first priority. Another aspect of the contribution is the computer education projects like the "Open-Office" and "JWPce". This community created a large very of creative programs.

To conclude, in our humble opinion the two have contributed more or less the same to the computer world, though the contribution of Bill Gates was not only a positive one.

[CosminG]

Bill Gates had a lot of money frim IBM at the start that is why he is were he is. IBM made him, but... He turns against them so, now IBM suports opensource and Linux. If IBM would suport Linus the software would be more advanced than now.
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[img:2b16fca40e]http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2193/ifyoudie4wn.png[/img:2b16fca40e]

[Fluffy]

Hmm found the rest of the work here it is:


Linus Torvalds- The Man and the Tux
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" Software is like sex; it's better when it's free." Linus Torvalds

Linux is a free operating system. Invented in 1991 by Linus Torvalds, then a 22 years old computer science student in the University of Helsinki.
He was not satisfied with his computer's OS (operating system), so one day he decided to program his own OS. A one that will be distributed freely and with its source code.

Along with Tux (His mascot- an animated penguin) he started to work on the project. This project will change the conception of computer programming and the responsibility of the developers toward the client forever.






Linus and Linux
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"My name is Linus, and I am your God." Linus Torvalds
Linus Torvalds (named after Linus Pauling, the famous Chemist) was born in Helsinki, Finland, as the son of Anna and Nils. Both his parents were campus radicals at the University of Helsinki (His father was a Communist). This caused embarrassment to Linus at the time since other children would tease him about his father's political leanings. Linus attended the University of Helsinki from 1988 to 1996, graduating with a master degree in computer science. He had been working for "Transmeta Corporation" for 5 years and then turned to the Open Source Development Labs in Portland, Oregon.
Torvalds originally used the Minix OS but soon replaced it with his own OS, mainly because it was too limited. He wanted to do something meaningful which would change the estranged and cold computer world. His OS was named Freax (combination of "free" and "freak", X for a Unix-like OS) but when Ari Lemmke (a friend) encouraged him to upload it, Ari opened a directory called Linux (Linus' Minix) on his FTP server.
The first version of Linux was released in September 1991. Since then, thousands of developers all over the world have participated in the project. "The Open-Source community" improves old distributions and develops new ones all the time. Examples for distributions are: Debian, Red-Hat, Mepis and Mandrake. Each distribution has its own characteristics and purposes.

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Linus' Impact, importance & Contribution
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"Linux: Because a PC is a terrible thing to waste." a T-Shirt

Linus Torvalds, by inventing Linux, created a whole new community of programmers. This community, commonly known as open source community, has created 100,084 different programs. All of them distributed freely. Also, the Linux community is currently the biggest online community, passing Microsoft's MSDN (Microsoft's developers' community) by a remarkable percentage.

Linux and the open source communities are both based on values of sharing and helping each other in any way you can. Anyone can join this community irrespective of race, religion or sex. Those communities only exist because of Linus' idea of what programming should be like. Its advantage is the help it gives to many of those who can't afford Microsoft's Windows to learn about the use of their computer. They also help young developers to see the way a good program should look like and teach them methods of development.

The idea of freely distributed programs has changed the worldwide web forever. Some of the main figures in the computer industry say that in twenty years or so, most of the programs we use will be open source ones. It includes the head managers of Sun industries and the Japanese electronical giant Sony.

No matter what one's opinion about open-source programming, there is no controversy about Linus' contribution to the drastic change the computers' world has gone through due to the invention of Linux.



Implications for the Future
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"Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect." Linus Torvalds

Linus' invention had many implications on how the "Web" and the computer world looks like today. These implications will only grow and get more noticeable with time.
We can already see the beginning of the process that the computer world is going through. Microsoft's monopoly and domination inthe market is slowly decreasing. This allows competition to take place, one that is good for the consumer.
As a result of this competition the programs we use will be improved. Also, by publishing the Source-code, every programmer will be able to aid in software problem solving. This way we will be able to build a community that helps its users and listens to them.
Finally, the implication of Linus' invention will be noticeable in every aspect of customer company relations in the computer industry for years to come.

[Violet]