[lug] Did Linus really not write Linux?

[Nate Duehr]

>Everyone knows that Tannenbaum wrote Minix first, and Linux had studied
>it.  That isn't a secret.  
>
I get a kick out of how difficult Intellectual Property law and ideals 
are to deal with.  It's always entertaining to read along after-the-fact 
and try to decide if the proper credit was given to various folks.

Example: How many of us use cron every day?  How many of us have ever 
sent a personal thank-you to Paul Vixie (who's still very very active 
online and easy to find).  Even further, how many of us have cracked 
open the source to see who ELSE has worked on the version(s) of cron we 
use?  Interesting tangent thoughts to ponder, anyway.

All I could think about while reading this thread was that I've plugged 
in a toaster oven or two in my time that didn't have any labels thanking 
Edison for his work on AC power.  Of course, when we really deeply 
review history we find that Edison was building a monopoly -- similar to 
a certain company we all have come to love to hate.

It's tough... if someone creates or fosters something truly 
revolutionary, they want appropriate credit and perhaps even 
compensation for it.  But if someone creates something *evolutionary* 
it's harder for our culture to give credit for those "improvements"... 
especially with the way our IP law is really twisted in the U.S. toward 
the original inventor.

Interesting stuff...

Nate Duehr, nate at natetech.com