Product Reviews

Author: Linus Torvalds with David Diamond

Linux is probably the most revolutionary thing to hit the computer industry since the original Mac, yet its creator, Linus Torvalds, has managed to remain something of a mystery. This book is a combination of biographies of both Torvalds and Linux itself and manages to be an entertaining and worthwhile read.

The best part is, without doubt, the story of how this self-proclaimed geek with an 'oversized nose' came to create a powerful multitasking operating system in less than the time it has taken Apple to sort out writing CD-Rs with Mac OS X.

The book leaves you in no doubt that Linus was destined for geekdom from a very early age: one of his earliest memories is perching on his grandfather's lap, playing with a VIC-20 home computer. By his teens, Linus was already writing his own operating system extensions for his computer, which by then was a Sinclair QL. And when, at university, he found limitations with the Minix operating system used for teaching the principles of an OS, he decided to build his own. This OS, built out of curiosity and for the fun of it, was Freax - which, thankfully, he later renamed Linux.

It's a compelling story and the way it's told - with Torvalds narrating his life between portraits of his character by Diamond - is well-paced and witty. Torvalds comes across as both self-effacing and yet thoroughly tough-minded when it comes to Linux and the advantages of the open source way of working. But, unlike other open source advocates (most notably Richard Stallman, who comes in for some criticism in this book), Torvalds is no zealot and strongly advocates the right of copyright holders to choose how best to distribute their work. He just believes that, for software, open source is the way to create the best software around.

The life of Linus

The book is a relatively easy read and certainly if you're confused about what Linux is, where it came from and how open source affects everyone interested in computers, it's a great place to start. It's also filled with funny episodes, including such delights as Torvald's mother's opinion of him ('so low-maintenance as a child, all you do is lock him in a cupboard with a computer

ADVERTISEMENT

and throw in some occasional dried pasta') to his opinion of Californian saunas (not good, compared with Finnish ones).

Perhaps the most interesting episode for Mac users will be Torvalds' account of when Steve Jobs attempted to recruit him for Apple. The portrait of Jobs - charming, intense, clued up about marketing and capable of turning on the reality distortion field - will be familiar to anyone who has ever been close to him. Yet, thankfully, Torvalds was able to do something that many people can't do: say no to Steve Jobs.

Torvalds gave Jobs a damning verdict of the Mach microkernel that lies at the heart of Mac OS X - 'frankly, it's a piece of crap' - and ultimately came to the conclusion that Jobs, the wunderkind of the first PC revolution, 'just didn't get it' when it came to the new revolution of open source. But in the end, he wasn't entirely able to resist Jobs' charms: despite Jobs coming across as yesterday's man, Torvalds still left the meeting 'kind of liking him'.

Torvalds is also critical of Apple's open source efforts, noting that there's little point in opening up the foundations of the OS - as Apple has done with its Darwin project - if you keep the interesting bits closed. Could Apple truly make a business for itself if it opened up the code to Aqua, QuickTime and its other 'crown jewels'? While there would undoubtedly be a benefit to consumers, who would get higher quality code that ran on both Mac and PC hardware, the benefits to Apple's bottom line are less clear.

The anti-Gates?

For anyone who has followed the history of the personal computer industry, Torvalds makes a fascinating contrast to Bill Gates, the individual who has done most to shape today's computer industry. Self-effacing to a fault, Torvalds comes across as unmotivated by ego and money as Gates appears driven by them. While Gates is as interested in business as he is in technology, Torvalds simple finds the minutiae of running a company boring. Despite an offer of $10 million simply to sit on the board of one Linux company, his job at Transmeta is solely programming.

Perhaps he shares more characteristics with Jobs. However, while Jobs is focused on the beauty of the design of Macs, Torvalds understands that truly beautiful code cannot be created by teams working on proprietary products, but by individuals doing it 'just for fun' and to gain the admiration of their peers. Kludges, hacks, shortcuts and all the other things that contribute to the buggy code we all accept as standard are harder to get away with when the source is open and your peers can read it and criticise you.

Just for Fun manages to combine an easy account of open source with an entertaining biography and does it with a style that's accessible to anyone. Overall, it's a highly recommended read.