There's innovation in Linux. There are some really good technical features that I'm proud of. There are capabilities in Linux that aren't in other operating systems.

I'm sitting in my home office wearing a bathrobe. The same way I'm not going to start wearing ties, I'm also not going to buy into the fake politeness, the lying, the office politics and backstabbing, the passive aggressiveness, and the buzzwords.

To be a nemesis, you have to actively try to destroy something, don't you? Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect.

I don't try to be a threat to MicroSoft, mainly because I don't really see MS as competition. Especially not Windows-the goals of Linux and Windows are simply so different.

The economics of the security world are all horribly, horribly nasty and are largely based on fear, intimidation and blackmail.

In many cases, the user interface to a program is the most important part for a commercial company: whether the programs works correctly or not seems to be secondary.

To be honest, the fact that people trust you gives you a lot of power over people. Having another person's trust is more powerful than all other management techniques put together.

I'm interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn't started as any kind of rebellion against the 'evil Microsoft empire.'

Programmers are in the enviable position of not only getting to do what they want to, but because the end result is so important they get paid to do it. There are other professions like that, but not that many.

I like to think that I've been a good manager. That fact has been very instrumental in making Linux a successful product.

When it comes to software, I much prefer free software, because I have very seldom seen a program that has worked well enough for my needs, and having sources available can be a life-saver.

I've been employed by the University of Helsinki, and they've been perfectly happy to keep me employed and doing Linux.

It's a personality trait: from the very beginning, I knew what I was concentrating on. I'm only doing the kernel - I always found everything around it to be completely boring.

What I find most interesting is how people really have taken Linux and used it in ways and attributes and motivations that I never felt.

Every once in a while an issue comes up where I have to make a statement. I can't totally avoid all political issues, but I try my best to minimize them. When I do make a statement, I try to be fairly neutral.

I don't see myself as a visionary at all.

The fame and reputation part came later, and never was much of a motivator, although it did enable me to work without feeling guilty about neglecting my studies.

Hey, I'm a good software engineer, but I'm not exactly known for my fashion sense. White socks and sandals don't translate to 'good design sense'.

What commercialism has brought into Linux has been the incentive to make a good distribution that is easy to use and that has all the packaging issues worked out.

Part of doing Linux was that I had to communicate a lot more instead of just being a geek in front of a computer.

By staying neutral, I end up being somebody that everybody can trust. Even if they don't always agree with my decisions, they know I'm not working against them.

I lose sleep if I end up feeling bad about something I've said. Usually that happens when I send something out without having read it over a few times, or when I call somebody names.

I do get my pizzas paid for by Linux indirectly.

Non-technical questions sometimes don't have an answer at all.

Once you start thinking more about where you want to be than about making the best product, you're screwed.

I don't expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.

I'm a technical manager, but I don't have to take care of people. I only have to worry about technology itself.

An individual developer like me cares about writing the new code and making it as interesting and efficient as possible. But very few people want to do the testing.

The thing I love about diving is the flowing feeling. I like a sport where the whole point is to move as little as humanly possible so your air supply will last longer. That's my kind of sport. Where the amount of effort spent is absolutely minimal.

A consumer doesn't take anything away: he doesn't actually consume anything. Giving the same thing to a thousand consumers is not really any more expensive than giving it to just one.

I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up.

I very seldom worry about other systems. I concentrate pretty fully on just making Linux the best I can.

I've been very happy with the commercial Linux CD-ROM vendors linux Red Hat.

Helsinki isn't all that bad. It's a very nice city, and it's cold really only in wintertime.

No-one has ever called me a cool dude. I'm somewhere between geek and normal.

Finnish companies tend to be very traditional, not taking many risks. Silicon Valley is completely different: people here really live on the edge.

Before the commercial ventures, Linux tended to be rather hard to set up, because most of the developers were motivated mainly by their own interests.

Helsinki may not be as cold as you make it out to be, but California is still a lot nicer. I don't remember the last time I couldn't walk around in shorts all day.

Software patents, in particular, are very ripe for abuse. The whole system encourages big corporations getting thousands and thousands of patents. Individuals almost never get them.

I've felt strongly that the advantage of Linux is that it doesn't have a niche or any special market, but that different individuals and companies end up pushing it in the direction they want, and as such you end up with something that is pretty balanced across the board.

I don't think I'm unusual in preferring my laptop to be thin and light.

Linux has definitely made a lot of sense even in a purely materialistic sense.

The cyberspace earnings I get from Linux come in the format of having a Network of people that know me and trust me, and that I can depend on in return.

Artists usually don't make all that much money, and they often keep their artistic hobby despite the money rather than due to it.

Fairly cheap home computing was what changed my life.

There were open source projects and free software before Linux was there. Linux in many ways is one of the more visible and one of the bigger technical projects in this area, and it changed how people looked at it because Linux took both the practical and ideological approach.

I don't have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I'm doing.

I personally think of Linux development as being pretty non-localized, and I work with all the people entirely over e-mail - even if they happen to be working in the Portland area.

I'm perfectly happy complaining, because it's cathartic, and I'm perfectly happy arguing with people on the Internet because arguing is my favourite pastime - not programming.

I actually think that I'm a rather optimistic and happy person; it's just that I'm not a very positive person, if you see the difference.