Alan Cox wins free software award [LWN.net]

Alan Cox wins free software award

Posted Feb 25, 2004 2:08 UTC (Wed) by steveparker (guest, #19769)
In reply to: Alan Cox wins free software award by gavino
Parent article: Alan Cox wins free software award

Linus and Alan have both been dedicated to the technical stuff, as has RMS - Alan and RMS focus on the Free aspect, where Linus focuses solely on the "make it work" aspect.
It'd be wrong to accuse either Alan or RMS of ignoring the "make it work" aspect - without them, we wouldn't have gcc, and would be unlikely to have Linux 2.4. They also care about the "whole picture" - it doesn't just work, it works and it's free.

Linus needs the Alans and Richards of this world - just because he doesn't focus on it himself doesn't belittle the necessity of this work. Without them, Linux would be another *BSD-wannabe.
Because the RMS's and Alan Coxes of this world help to let the world know what Free Software is about, and AC in particular keeps Linux on that track, Linus can concentrate on the management and coordination issues.

It's symbiotic - Linux would be dead in the water without the GPL (the *BSD's are "good enough"); Alan would have no place to use his skills if Linux (and GNOME, as an aside) weren't GPL.

Just because Linus stands on the "does" side and Alan and RMS stand on the "why it does" side doesn't create any kind of divide - both are needed.

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