Shamelessly copied from a post on a Lemmy look alike site :)

  • Chemical Wonka@discuss.tchncs.de
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    8 months ago

    He didn’t give up his fortune directly, because today he is a rich man. He just enriched with a different approach like opting to not lock the source code of his work like another guy we know well…

    But I like him anyway

    • silverhand@reddthat.com
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      8 months ago

      He would’ve definitely made more even as a senior employee in early Microsoft, IBM or any of the big Corps. Linux exists solely because he made it a collaborative endeavour from the start.

      • Ramin Honary@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        Linux exists solely because he made it a collaborative endeavour from the start.

        That is the important part. If Linux had tried to compete with Microsoft as a closed-source operating system, no one would have used it – who would use a tiny, buggy (back then), incomplete, closed-source operating system made by a few guys in their spare time against a very popular, feature-complete, close-source operating system with billions of dollars funding its engineering effort?

        What makes Linux popular is that it is collectively owned, that is as much a feature of the operating system as any technology or algorithm written into the source code itself. That feature is what set it apart from Windows or Mac OS.

    • Bonehead@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      For a guy like that, it was never about money. He knew that would come in comfortable enough amounts. For him, it was about being the smartest person in the room. And 90% of the time, he is. And he lets you know.

    • QuazarOmega@lemy.lol
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      8 months ago

      opting to not lock the source code of his work like another guy we know well…

      I’m out of the loop, who are you referring to?

    • TimeSquirrel@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      I don’t think he ever expected fortunes, going off his famous usenet post. He just wanted a Unix-like OS that wasn’t Minix and didn’t cost exactly one space shuttle. One that he could fuck around and do anything he wanted with without regard for someone else’s license and restrictions.

      Everyone else wanting one too was a happy accident.