Just for Fun; The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary

xxii, 262, [4] pages. Index. Inscribed to Betty by Linus Torvalds on 24.8.2001 on the half title page. Includes note as to how the autograph was obtained in Helsinki. Includes Introduction, Acknowledgments, Preface, and Index. Topics include Birth of a Nerd; Birth of an Operating System; King of the Ball; and Index. Linus Torvalds never intentionally sought fame and fortune, yet fame and fortune found him when he radically changed the world of technology for one selfish reason--He did it just for fun. Part autobiography and part business philosophy, Just for Fun brims with biographical detail about the radical spirit and creativity of Linus Torvalds. It offers a unique glimpse into the mind of an accidental revolutionary and how the altruistic creation of LINUX flourished so successfully in the open source movement. Linus Benedict Torvalds (born 28 December 1969) is a Finnish-American software engineer who is the creator and, historically, the principal developer of the Linux kernel, used by Linux distributions and other operating systems such as Android and Chrome OS. He also created the distributed revision control system Git and the scuba dive logging and planning software Subsurface. He was honored, along with Shinya Yamanaka, with the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize by the Technology Academy Finland "in recognition of his creation of a new open source operating system for computers leading to the widely used Linux kernel." He is also the recipient of the 2014 IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award. David Diamond is an American journalist known for his work at New York Times. "I was a nerd. Geek. From fairly early on. I didn't duct-tape my glasses together, but I might as well have, because I had all the other traits. Good at math, good at physics, and with no social graces whatsoever. And this was before being a nerd was considered to be a good thing." In this witty and engrossing narrative, Linus Torvalds, the brilliant mastermind behind the latest Internet revolution, in collaboration with writer David Diamond, chronicles his transformation from a pale, skinny Helsinki college kid to an international folk hero. What began as a childhood hobby soon became the astonishing phenomenon known as the LINUX operating system. LINUX was created because Linus was curious to see if he could improve upon the operating systems already out there, such as UNIX. How could he create a system that could run all of his favorite software with fewer crashes and faster productivity? Linus posted his early versions of LINUX on the Internet and called upon the most brilliant minds in computer science to enhance his system. What happened next took the world by storm. Linus wasn't the first to use the power of the open source movement, but the excitement he generated when he offered his system to the world was unprecedented. What made LINUX revolutionary was its journey to become the marvel it is today -- and how the system grew from the meeting of thousands of minds around the world. Suddenly, Linus's creation was available for everyone to use, for free! Anyone could improve LINUX at whim. No monopolies, no trade secrets, no whispering behind closed doors. LINUX wasn't controlled by a select few -- this remarkable creation was accessible to absolutely anyone -- and still is. The LINUX system is still constantly evolving and improving every day a decade after its inception. Linus describes the history of LINUX in graspable terms and details how the system itself works, without lapsing into mindboggling technical jargon. For general readers, Torvalds spins a witty tale of his fascinating life. Here is the story of a young man who, as a still-rising star, keeps his feet on the ground through a combination of self-deprecating humor and the realization that life is simply about having a good time. Linus's narrative teems with clever anecdotes and his captivating opinions on the future of competition in the computer world. Linus even reveals hi. …