Linus Torvalds is the creator of Linux, which in simplest terms is an operating system. The definition of Linux is, it is the software on a computer that enables applications and the computer operator to access the devices on the computer to perform desired functions. Linux is used by all different kinds of people such as: people who have personal problems with Microsoft, people who want to experiment with operating system principles, and people who need or want a great deal of control over their operating system. Linux is very different from Windows and MAC operating systems, but the biggest difference is that Linux is open-source. Open-source means that anyone in the world can look through the source code of Linux and any other part of the distribution and find any bugs, security holes, or any other problems within the source code. There are a lot more advantages of Linux, another advantage of Linux is that it is easy to install. Another advantage is that it is less vulnerable to computer malware. There are also a lot of disadvantages of Linux. One disadvantage of Linux is that many windows programs will not run in Linux. A second disadvantage of Linux is that there is a smaller selection of peripheral hardware drivers. Linux was created in 1991, Linus Torvalds is a Finnish American software engineer, who was born in Helsinki, Finland. Linus now lives in Portland, Oregon where he is the project coordinator for the Linux Kernel. Linus Torvalds graduated from The University of Helsinki with a master's degree in Computer Science. After his first year of studying, his academic career was put on hold when he joined the Finnish Army to fulfill the mandatory military service in Finland. He has been a programmer since the late 1980's. Forbes magazine holds Linus Torvalds to a very high esteem because he is one of the greatest programmers ever. I don't think any one person is "The Greatest", I think there are too many people to name that could also be "The Greatest". Therefore, I don't think that Linus Torvalds is the greatest programmer ever. Other possible candidates for "The Greatest" are: Dennis Ritchie the creator of the c programming language, Bjarne Stroustrup the creator of c++, and Tim Berners-Lee the creator of HTML and World Wide Web inventor.
http://www.linux.com/learn/new-user-guides/376-linux-is-everywhere-an-overview-of-the-linux-operating-system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds
http://www.linux.org/threads/what-is-linux.4076/
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question246.htm
http://www.renewablepcs.com/about-linux/advantages-of-using-linux
Dennis Ritchie as a candidate for best programmer does make a lot of sense. C++ is also more of a household name rather than the Linux operating system. It's more recognizable and it you are able to do a lot through his language. However, I think Linus still deserves to be on top in this case, as his open source code OS allows for a larger amount of people to directly effect how their own system can run and C++ can't do as much, well at least not without a large amount of coding knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Linus is not the greatest programmer in the world as there are many other people competing with him and have created many great languages like c++ , c , and java. We can say that these people are best at what they do and without these great developers, students in software programming would have hard time writing codes and these languages makes it easier for students to write new programs.
ReplyDeleteWith the whole thing with Linux being on a high level of intelligence I agree on that. It is not as popular as other operating systems but it still has it's varying uses in today's world. I would also have to say that I believe that Dennis is my choice for top programmer for the sole reason of he's the creator of the C language. I know this is only my opinion but it's what I believe.
ReplyDeleteJared, I like your post. I also agree that Dennis Ritchie would be great candidate for best programmer, he has done some great things! I agree with you about there being too many "Greatest Programmers" out there. I also think that some of the advantages to Linux are that it is easy to install and that it is less vulnerable to computer malware and viruses.I think it was interesting that Torvalds left school to complete his mandatory military training, I would have tried to do it before school (but I don't know the rules).
ReplyDelete"Linux is used by all different kinds of people such as: people who have personal problems with Microsoft,..." Heh, that's kinda funny, since it's true in some cases. Though those people could also just use a Mac... right?
ReplyDeleteAlso I definitely agree that determining the true "Greatest Programmer Ever" would be rather cumbersome work, considering how many people are out there that have achieved great things like this. You'd have to measure how much thought it took each and every one of those individuals to develop what they did, and how little they had to work off of beforehand, to determine how great of an innovator they really were. At least, those are my determinants of a good innovator. So, I appreciate having read another post that couldn't decide, like my own post.
I think it's funny how you said people who have a problem with Microsoft. I like Microsoft and Apple but i always wanted something else to really challenge them to step their game up. I'm not sure if Linux really makes them step it up or give them competition, however i like the option if i ever did get sick of the mainstream operating systems. I agree with you about not being the greatest programmer ever. I said something along the lines of what you said in my blog. There is just to many people who are great at programming and did great things for just one to be the best.
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