Interview with Andrew Tanenbaum (LinuxFr.org)

I guess recent research into alternate universes gives anyone the right to credibly postulate what might have been. Maybe Successful Minix exists in the same universe as Evil Kirk and Conniving Spock...

Snarkiness aside, those who have used Linux in some form since the early days know the (in my universe... :) foundations of its success - contributors adding things that others found useful. So IMHO the crux of it probably was, who was more accommodating of others' stuff, AT or LT?