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Linus Torvalds became US citizen

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Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#161

Post by waqf »

kiuyhjk wrote: post #153
jacquesm wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is 'open source', French is 'the cathedral'. It shows in their proliferation patterns too.

Whats the quote? Other languages borrow foreign words - English lures them into dark alleys and goes through their pockets for any grammer they might have.

The original quote is:

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle [sic] their pockets for new vocabulary.

ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nicoll

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#162

Post by apgwoz »

mike-cardwell wrote: post #79
apgwoz wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why we're both getting downvoted for this. It was a valid question, and a valid response. Thanks for the answer. I did not realize the EU had this privilege.

I suspect in my case it is because I said "European country" rather than "European Union country." Not all European countries are in the EU. The Wikipedia article on the EU has all sorts of interesting information: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/European_Unio...

Sure--but, if that's the case, you'd think someone would reply and correct you, instead of just blatantly down voting an otherwise "get the point across answer", and forcing you to speculate. :)

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#163

Post by reinhardt »

ewjordan wrote: post #149
alinajaf wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That wasn't irony. THIS is irony (i.e. that the person who called out the other guy for not understanding irony, happens to not actually know the difference between irony and sarcasm himself) :P

ewjordan's Law of Irony : in any Internet discussion of sufficient length where the word "irony" is used, someone will call out the poster for using it incorrectly. This is true whether or not the original usage was proper or not, and with high probability the original complaint will be followed up by a comment on the irony of the critic not understanding the definition of the word "irony". Bonus points are awarded b…

Oblig. oatmeal link: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#165

Post by philwelch »

mike-cardwell wrote: post #147
philwelch wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but it's been what, 60 years since they stopped trying to invade each other? I don't think it's a foregone conclusion either, but I think it's definitely the trend the EU is on.

A lot of the countries in Europe have strong independent governments that were established long before the USA existed. European countries have large complex systems of law that have taken thousands of years to develop and grow. We also have hundreds of millions of people. What was the original population of the USA? How difficult would it be to wipe and rewrite the constitution of the USA today? Imagine something 10…

You could have given the same arguments 50 years ago to say Europe would never have a successful political union, continent-wide military alliance, or currency, and today they have all three.

Incidentally, I don't know about "a lot". Many European countries formed as unions of smaller states not that much longer ago than the colonization of America--the UK, Spain, Italy, and Germany all formed this way, Germany after the United States and the UK only a couple decades before. And nearly every country on the continent of Europe has already had its constitution rewritten within the past century.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#166

Post by nandemo »

kiuyhjk wrote: post #26
sp332 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The USA, for being appealing enough to make Linus want to (first) move here and (now) take on citizenship, instead of just telnetting from Finland - or anywhere else on the planet he might have liked better.

Or being so inflexible with regard to immigration that the only way to work there without facing immediate deportation if you change jobs is to become a citizen. I can live and work permanently in 27 countries (including Finland) without having to change nationality.

The funny thing is that in practice US must be the most flexible developed country regarding immigration.

There are more than 12 millions illegal immigrants in US. Illegal immigrants owns houses, driver cars and go to college. I find it amazing. In Japan, if you're an illegal immigrant you're pretty much relegated to the underworld.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#167

Post by barrkel »

gojomo wrote: post #56
mike-cardwell wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think he obtained American citizenship because he likes the USA more than any other country, including his home one? You don't know his motives. Maybe he just did it because it's more convenient for him to currently work there, and constantly having to organise visas was a pain in the arse? For all we know he hates the USA...?

For all we know he hates the USA...? For all we know, he's the first in a series of genetically-engineered Finnish super-programmers, part of a growing sleeper cell of infiltrators hell(sinki)-bent on Finlandizing the USA via secret trapdoors in their code, all waiting for the flip of a single bit to instantly erase all memory of the Constitution and replace it with a Scandinavian welfare-state, then killing our lead…

evl.fi - very suspicious domain name for a church.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#168

Post by eru »

DougBTX wrote: post #141
logic wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes; as far as the U.S. is concerned, you're a citizen, with the same rights and responsibilities as any other. If there's a draft, you'll be called upon. If that were to happen, there would definitely be an upside to renunciation. ;-)

Just watch out for when both sides call a draft.

This is a problem for Turkish man living in Germany with dual citizenship.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#170

Post by gojomo »

mike-cardwell wrote: post #143
gojomo wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And to bring it all back around: that an exceptional person who could easily choose to live in comfort in dozens of countries, chooses to live in the USA, is a legitimate source of pride for the locals. The number one product of a legal jurisdiction is providing a desirable place to live. The political system is designed to make citizens feel like the local jurisdiction is 'their' product. When your target market emb…

It must be a cultural thing then. I can't personally imagine ever being proud of someone moving to the UK (where I live). I understand that Americans place a much higher value on patriotism than most of the developed World though. It's bigger than that though. The whole concept of feeling proud about something to which you had no input seems very strange to me.

Well, the animating idea of modern democracies is that we do have input into governance. (Whether that's a foundational truism or a useful myth is a separate issue -- people are supposed to believe they have input, and most do believe that.) At least some of the difference between the governance of Portland versus Houston, or California versus Texas, or the USA versus the UK or Finland, is due to different preferences of the governed.

And, even ignoring formal political 'input' (or the simulacrum of same), we all make the culture and economy as neighbors and workers. When a smart, productive, and freedom-loving person with many options chooses to live closer to me, under the same standing rules, it's a positive indicator about my desirability as a neighbor and an external validator of choices I've made previously. Hence, 'pride'.

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