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Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

theregister.co.uk

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Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#151

Post by roymurdock »

popee wrote: post #75
tylercubell wrote: post #56

Chris Anderson: So you spoke to me last week about these two guys. Who are they and how do you relate to them? Linus Torvalds: Well, so this is kind of cliché in technology, the whole Tesla versus Edison, where Tesla is seen as the visionary scientist and crazy idea man. And people love Tesla. I mean, there are people who name their companies after him. The other person there is Edison, who is actually often vilified…

Tesla worked for Edison and was a person who could finish things and some of them changed the world. He was also person with vision, so I think Linus is either wrong or he is trying to put emphasis only on hard work. What if you have person like Tesla with both qualities?

He is simplifying the situation to make his point, that if you have to choose between inspiration and execution, he would choose execution by a wide margin. It's not meant to be an accurate historical commentary or to portray any sort of reality.

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#152

Post by suyash »

whsheet wrote: post #6

I like the header and experimented with current trends: - Talk of AI is bullshit. Shut up and get the work done. - Talk of Machine Learning is bullshit. Shut up and get the work done. - Talk of VR is bullshit. Shut up and get the work done. - Talk of Smart Contracts is bullshit. Shut up and get the work done. - Talk of IoT is bullshit. Shut up and get the work done. Not sure if I entirely agree with him but there's s…

This is exactly what he is saying, now time to close this browser - surfing around and Get Work DONE!

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#153

Post by nickpsecurity »

jonathanyc wrote: post #143
nickpsecurity wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didnt invent anything? Only duplicated others' work identically or with uglier, shoddier construction at lower prices? Im interested in a link with evidence of that if you have it.

That's a false dichotomy, but also, this is a well-known phenomenon. It was taught even when I learned history in high school here in California. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2013-02-01/piracy-an... http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/12/06/we-were-pirates-too/ I think it's a really interesting phenomenon how quickly we as a culture are able to imagine that what we're experiencing right now is without precedent.

It's not a false dichotomy. It's what the Chinese did to American goods until they developed innovation centers. The other person said America was the same. I wanted references. Yours seem to illustrate that was true. Hilariously, too.

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#154

Post by nickpsecurity »

coldtea wrote: post #138
nickpsecurity wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didnt invent anything? Only duplicated others' work identically or with uglier, shoddier construction at lower prices? Im interested in a link with evidence of that if you have it.

Until quite late, with Edison and co, they didn't. And that's like 2 centuries after independence. All major inventions (and their first major uses in production) came from Europe until then, from the steam engine (UK) and the radio (Italy), to the car engine (Germany), the refrigerator (Germany, UK), the battery (Italy), telephone (Scotland), etc. > Only duplicated others' work identically or with uglier, shoddier c…

"Also, "uglier, shoddier construction at lower prices"? You seem to be under the impression that the Chinese just build cheap knockoffs."

That's what they did in the past as I stated. They were renown for it. Later on, they started innovating a ton on top of that. The transformation was covered very well in the Wired Shenzhen documentary.

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#155

Post by gukov »

hawski wrote: post #124
frederikvs wrote: post #39

It's funny how he says "Don't do this big 'think different'... screw that", apparently without realising that Apple did exactly what he's talking about. Almost all of Apple's big innovations were stolen from other places, and then they shut up, and got to work : making it work properly, making it user friendly, making it sexy, and then selling it. Apple's slogan may have been "think different", and they have the imag…

For me the word "steal" in "Good artists copy, great artists steal" quote always meant: make it that good that the public will think it was always yours. The origin does not matter, because reality for people is what they believe in. If you will execute it better than anyone else it will be considered "yours". Edit: At the same time there are also few options to make people believe it's yours beside exceptional execu…

I like this. Build it so well the customers won't suspect a thing and will think you're the original creator. In a way, this is "fake it 'till you make it... the best version ever."

Apple is going to steal all the thunder again, this time in AR/VR, isn't it.

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#156

Post by smarpidity »

mwfunk wrote: post #150

I think we're all reading lots of different things into what Linus said here. My interpretation is that he's just saying that we tend to overvalue ideas and undervalue the less glamorous work involved in bringing those ideas to fruition. The Tesla vs. Edison narrative is always couched in terms of the idea guy vs. the more pragmatic (perhaps more business-oriented) guy, not unlike the popular Woz vs. Jobs narrative,…

I agree with your interpretation, "he's just saying that we tend to overvalue ideas and undervalue the less glamorous work involved in bringing those ideas to fruition."

I would also add, Torvalds is an enchanted unicorn from a resume perspective, it's not like he has followed a typical FOSS career trajectory, so seriously, what does he know --> that you can put to use? It's like a beautiful young woman telling you how you can get just a warning instead of a speeding ticket next time, just do what she does (except if you follow Linus's lead you will definitely get the speeding ticket)

Humans have a built in instinct to follow great leaders, but if you are not a great leader yourself, emulating them might not actually work for you.

I have tremendous respect for Linus and for the HN community; I'm just saying, let's use critical thinking. There are plenty of successful super lightweight coding projects; he works on kernel level OS for a huge legacy of hardwares; he already was first to market, you still need to be, it's always tradeoffs. Borrowing/paraphrasing an idea from finance or population genetics, maybe the world is the way it is because that's the right mix, why believe you know a better way to a greater extent than your already believing so is already part of the right mix?

so, I'm not saying don't think, reflect and improve, I'm saying don't throw yourself into these debates all on one side. One size doesn't fit all.

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#157

Post by jogjayr »

anjc wrote: post #37
bad_user wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On your deathbed, are you going to regret not making more money? If your basic needs have been met and your children have been well educated and aren't starving, then the answer is probably no. But many of us will regret not spending more time with our loved ones, or not leaving something of value behind, something we created. The truth is many of us aren't doing this for the money, because let's be honest, most of u…

Nice romantic view but the fact is that 95% of people in the western world can't afford society's perceptions of "basic needs". I'd wager that most people you hear talking about innovation, outside of Websummit and so on, are living hand-to-mouth and very much need to sell their ideas.

> 95% of people in the western world can't afford society's perceptions of "basic needs"

You're saying 95% of people in the Western world can't afford food, shelter, clothing, education, transportation, healthcare and entertainment? That's awfully grim. It also doesn't really jibe with my experience of the Western world; you can get by fine on $50k/yr (median US household income) outside of expensive areas like SF Bay Area or NYC. If what you're saying is true then the rest of the world must be truly unlivable.

EDIT: I think something like 20% is closer to the mark.

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#158

Post by jacquesm »

SamReidHughes wrote: post #145
jacquesm wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are just merely doing your job you are not making any extra value. That's got to be the most ignorant comment on HN in a very long time. Really? Think for just two seconds: Do you think a person would be employed at all if they did not make more value than they took home (including taxes and all that)? The whole reason our economy works at all is BECAUSE people make more value than they take home. If not for…

Well, there are some people who are not employed.

Who are kept alive by the taxes from those that are, so even there the excess value created is what makes the system work.

Re: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

#160

Post by emodendroket »

nickpsecurity wrote: post #130
emodendroket wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think maybe you should go back to the history of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, which hinged initially on industrial espionage.

They didnt invent anything? Only duplicated others' work identically or with uglier, shoddier construction at lower prices? Im interested in a link with evidence of that if you have it.

They brought in Englishmen who'd memorized the design of the textile mills so they could copy them in Massachusetts.
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