The commercial motivations of Linus Torvalds

An interesting interview with Linus Torvalds in Linux World, with statements very much in Linus’s style:

“...I also think that the change to the GPLv2 (from my original “no money” License) was important, because the commercial interests were actually very important from the very beginning, even if they were much smaller initially.”

“The commercial distributions were what drove a lot of the nice installers, and pushed people to improve usability etcetera, and I think commercial users of Linux have been very important in actually improving the product. I think all the technical people who have been involved have been hugely important, but I think that the kind of commercial use that you can get with the GPLv2 is also important – you need a balance between pure technology, and the kinds of pressures you get from users through the market.”

“So I don’t think marketing can drive that particular thing: if you have a purely marketing (or customer) driven approach, you end up with crap technology in the end. But I think that something that is purely driven by technical people will also end up as crap technology in the end, and you really need a balance here. So a lot of the really rabid “Free Software” people seem to often think that it’s all about the developers, and that commercial interests are evil. I think that’s just stupid. It’s not just about the individual developers; it’s about all the different kinds of interests all being able to work on things together.”

On the opportunities he might have missed by not developing a proprietary Linux, Torvalds answers:

“First off, I’m actually perfectly well off. I live in a good-sized house, with a nice yard, with deer occasionally showing up and eating the roses (my wife likes the roses more, I like the deer more, so we don’t really mind). I’ve got three kids, and I know I can pay for their education. What more do I need?
“The thing is, being a good programmer actually pays pretty well; being acknowledged as being world-class pays even better. I simply didn’t need to start a commercial company. And it’s just about the least interesting thing I can even imagine...”

“...So I think I would have missed the opportunity of my lifetime if I had not made Linux widely available. If I had tried to make it commercial, it would never have worked as well, it would never have been as relevant, and I’d probably be stressed out. So I’m really happy with my choices in life. I do what I care about, and feel like I’m making a difference.”

The survival of open source depends on the balance between commercial interests and those of the developers. Without the support of companies like IBM, Sun or Oracle, right now we would not be discussing the relevance of free software.