A conversation on the edge of the forest
The sun was beginning to decline when a man stepped out onto one of the forest glades, in a multitude of scattered forests in northern Oregon. The man looked rather unusual for this place: he was wearing a low-key suit, holding a laptop in one hand and a small folding chair in the other. Having examined the clearing, and not finding anything interesting on it, he looked at his watch, spread out a chair, and sitting on it, opened a laptop on his lap.
The shadows of the trees became much longer, when from the side of the road a few hundred meters away from the clearing there was some noise. It seemed that something big was breaking through the bushes, occasionally clanking something metallic. Finally, the bushes on the edge of the clearing fluttered, and a fairly battered man stepped on it, pulling the bicycle with one hand. Apparently, the bicycle was the cause of those very clanging sounds.
Two people looked at each other. The first to break the silence is a man with a bicycle. Leaving him half freed from the hazel bush, he simply said: "Hello, Bill." And the man with the laptop said, "Hello, Linus."
- You know, I barely found this clearing. It’s good that you left your Porsche on the road - and guided it.
')
- What about GPS, Linus? - A man named Bill asked with a smile.
- So ... I downloaded the source code for the new navigator build, but for its correct operation, I had to rebuild the kernel again, and I didn’t have time ... I didn’t want to pick up the devices on your windows, well, you understand.
- Yes, Linus, I understand; I asked so. By the way, do you happen to have satellite internet with you?
- No, Bill. And why do you need him now?
- Yes, I closed my “Smart Home” when I left, and the opening of my doors was realized only through the Internet authorization via https. My wife arrived from the store, she cannot enter the house - and my “3G” in this wilderness does not work, and the usual gprs-channel for downloading the authorization page is not enough. By the way, it seems to me that installing a network of repeaters with 3G support in all remote areas of our country would be an excellent way to solve this problem - tourists will finally be able to come on holiday with their laptops, and, while sitting on the banks of the river, simultaneously purchase our products through the online system. dist ...
- Bill!
- Sorry, Linus. In fact, we agreed to meet in this wild place for several other purposes ...
- Exactly, Bill.
- Well, then - immediately to the case ... As you know, the IDEA came to me relatively recently, but the events that pushed me to her came about many years ago. Back in the 90s of the last century, when I earned my first billions, I had thoughts: “I am making progress in business; I am making progress in technology; but ... are people around getting happier? ”It was around this time that you, Linus, founded your operating system, based on the ideology of“ free software ”that competes with mine - and people are torn between them, unable to make a final choice ... Enmity between organizations adhering to this or that paradigm will go on endlessly, and ultimately - with the growing importance of technology in our lives - people will more and more be divided into warring camps with the support of lawyers ...
- Yes, Bill. Free software is free software, and a closed code is a closed code. And what you propose is ...
- This is, I am sure, revolutionary! Union of the largest software corporation and open-source community! Under universal jubilation, we will translate Windows under the GNU GPL license, release Ward in builds for Slackware and RedHat, port DirectX to Mandriva! And all this is free for end users!
- It is tempting ... I can imagine how happy people will be - especially those who face trial for distributing non-version versions of Windows.
- No ships! You, Linus, will receive the post of first vice-president of the new organization, and the right to sign any documents on a par with me. It will be the “Golden Age” in the world of information technology!
They talked for a long time. Dew had already fallen on the grass, and the sun had finally disappeared when a slight pause came.
“You know, Bill ... At first I thought your idea was excellent. But then I thought that the “golden age” should give people something more substantial than the union of two idols. People need to be given convenient development tools and high-quality software - easy-to-use and stable; and neither I nor you, Bill, can give all this.
- Hm ... I didn’t think about it ... Perhaps, I really didn’t see here ... Well, then, can we do it?
- Yes, nothing special needs to be done. It’s better to keep “good” and “evil” separately - I will continue to live in Portland and inspire open-source developers, and you will be doing business on the other side of the barricades in Seattle. And you will try to “crush” me, and I will destroy your ideology of the proprietary code. And the only entertainment that we can give to people is the hope that someday you will lose the war. This hope will support them in the moments of long recompilations of the kernels of my system, it will support people with your Windows hangs and glitches ...
Two people were silent. The man with the laptop said, “Okay, Linus, let's go. I will help you get the bike out of the bush. ”
People stepped into the thicket, and almost to the touch began to move in the direction of the road, on which occasionally flashed headlights of cars rushing along it.
The first stars were lit in the sky.
The shadows of the trees became much longer, when from the side of the road a few hundred meters away from the clearing there was some noise. It seemed that something big was breaking through the bushes, occasionally clanking something metallic. Finally, the bushes on the edge of the clearing fluttered, and a fairly battered man stepped on it, pulling the bicycle with one hand. Apparently, the bicycle was the cause of those very clanging sounds.
Two people looked at each other. The first to break the silence is a man with a bicycle. Leaving him half freed from the hazel bush, he simply said: "Hello, Bill." And the man with the laptop said, "Hello, Linus."
- You know, I barely found this clearing. It’s good that you left your Porsche on the road - and guided it.
')
- What about GPS, Linus? - A man named Bill asked with a smile.
- So ... I downloaded the source code for the new navigator build, but for its correct operation, I had to rebuild the kernel again, and I didn’t have time ... I didn’t want to pick up the devices on your windows, well, you understand.
- Yes, Linus, I understand; I asked so. By the way, do you happen to have satellite internet with you?
- No, Bill. And why do you need him now?
- Yes, I closed my “Smart Home” when I left, and the opening of my doors was realized only through the Internet authorization via https. My wife arrived from the store, she cannot enter the house - and my “3G” in this wilderness does not work, and the usual gprs-channel for downloading the authorization page is not enough. By the way, it seems to me that installing a network of repeaters with 3G support in all remote areas of our country would be an excellent way to solve this problem - tourists will finally be able to come on holiday with their laptops, and, while sitting on the banks of the river, simultaneously purchase our products through the online system. dist ...
- Bill!
- Sorry, Linus. In fact, we agreed to meet in this wild place for several other purposes ...
- Exactly, Bill.
- Well, then - immediately to the case ... As you know, the IDEA came to me relatively recently, but the events that pushed me to her came about many years ago. Back in the 90s of the last century, when I earned my first billions, I had thoughts: “I am making progress in business; I am making progress in technology; but ... are people around getting happier? ”It was around this time that you, Linus, founded your operating system, based on the ideology of“ free software ”that competes with mine - and people are torn between them, unable to make a final choice ... Enmity between organizations adhering to this or that paradigm will go on endlessly, and ultimately - with the growing importance of technology in our lives - people will more and more be divided into warring camps with the support of lawyers ...
- Yes, Bill. Free software is free software, and a closed code is a closed code. And what you propose is ...
- This is, I am sure, revolutionary! Union of the largest software corporation and open-source community! Under universal jubilation, we will translate Windows under the GNU GPL license, release Ward in builds for Slackware and RedHat, port DirectX to Mandriva! And all this is free for end users!
- It is tempting ... I can imagine how happy people will be - especially those who face trial for distributing non-version versions of Windows.
- No ships! You, Linus, will receive the post of first vice-president of the new organization, and the right to sign any documents on a par with me. It will be the “Golden Age” in the world of information technology!
They talked for a long time. Dew had already fallen on the grass, and the sun had finally disappeared when a slight pause came.
“You know, Bill ... At first I thought your idea was excellent. But then I thought that the “golden age” should give people something more substantial than the union of two idols. People need to be given convenient development tools and high-quality software - easy-to-use and stable; and neither I nor you, Bill, can give all this.
- Hm ... I didn’t think about it ... Perhaps, I really didn’t see here ... Well, then, can we do it?
- Yes, nothing special needs to be done. It’s better to keep “good” and “evil” separately - I will continue to live in Portland and inspire open-source developers, and you will be doing business on the other side of the barricades in Seattle. And you will try to “crush” me, and I will destroy your ideology of the proprietary code. And the only entertainment that we can give to people is the hope that someday you will lose the war. This hope will support them in the moments of long recompilations of the kernels of my system, it will support people with your Windows hangs and glitches ...
Two people were silent. The man with the laptop said, “Okay, Linus, let's go. I will help you get the bike out of the bush. ”
People stepped into the thicket, and almost to the touch began to move in the direction of the road, on which occasionally flashed headlights of cars rushing along it.
The first stars were lit in the sky.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/77506/
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