Torvalds Endorses Obama, Not Himself
Now that Linus Torvalds has his own blog, the community can find out what he thinks when he's not lording over driver code. In his newest entry he endorses Barack Obama for President and, against the hopes of some of his followers, not himself.
Being a non-voting resident of the U.S., Torvalds admits in his blog to viewing the country from a different perspective, and in that perspective supports Obama and backs it up with a video of Obama's "Call to Renewal" speech from 2006. In Torvalds's view, McCain is not the opponent, but rather the Free Software Foundation (FSF). He criticizes the FSF for having "the whole black-and-white, 'good vs. evil' mindset" and that it defines itself based on the single issue of railing against proprietary software. "I don't like single-issue people," he says, and opines that a true passion for something shouldn't turn into a "passion against something else."
At the end of his blog he admits to being upset over, and having a hard time accepting, some of the craziness he sees "out there." For him, "Obama understands the U.S. better because he has seen something else, and has seen it from a wider background" and is capable of understanding and accepting
that "others have other motivations than you do, even when you don't share them." That's why Torvalds is endorsing Obama and not himself for President.
Issue 172/2015
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
Old Vulnerabilities Are Kept Alive Through Bad Configuration
HP's annual Cyber Risk report offers a bleak look at the state of IT.
-
Linus Torvalds Announces Linux 4.0
But what do the big numbers really mean?
-
Microsoft Frees CoreCLR
.NET Core execution engine is the basis for cross-platform .NET implementations.
-
New Trojan Attacks Linux Servers
The Xnote trojan hides itself on the target system and will launch a variety of attacks on command.
-
Cisco Releases Annual Security Report
Spammers go low-volume, and 90% of IE browsers are unpatched.
-
Zero Day Exploits Target Flash
Adobe scrambles to release patches for vulnerable Flash Player.
-
Intel Unveils Compute Stick
Four-inch-long computer on a stick lets you boot a full Linux system from any HDMI display device.
-
Obama Proposes Personal Data Notification Law
New statute would require companies to report break-ins to consumers.
-
TGXf Project Warns of File Transfer through Screen Pixels
Weird data transfer technique avoids all standard security measures.
-
Industry Giants Announce a Fix for the Password Mess
FIDO alliance declares the beginning of the end for old-style login authentication.