Moot point - he doesn't.

Moot point - he doesn't.

And it's so good that he doesn't, and indeed, that no-one/everyone owns the linux kernel, and that it is dedicated to reproducing POSIX-standard functionality. See the Massachusetts OpenDocument debate for one example of why standardized functionality is ultimately optimal, and manufacturer-specific, non-standard implementations are less than optimal, even if they provide useful functionality. Grand visions are nice, but world-reproducible, world-repeatable, world-implementable specifications win. Hans didn't create an open specification, nor did he create a systematic approach to anything above filesystem data management. Look at his documentation. He starts, not with Linux integration at all, but with "What is a file?". His grand vision is generated a priori, ex nihil. He picks Linux as the recipient of his gift by default. His other options are Microsoft or the graveyard of niche OSes. He is doomed to see his beautiful whole-cloth implementations broken down into usable functions and adapted for use by people who don't have his ends in mind (with the possible exception of whatever DARPA uses it for). It's the commoditization problem.