Linus Torvalds on Remote Work: Why Flexibility Beats Endless Meetings

Amid the global COVID‑19 pandemic, many people are forced to work from home, raising concerns about productivity. ZDNet interviewed Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux and Git, to discuss his perspective on remote work.

Torvalds, who has long worked from his home office, admits he initially worried about missing face‑to‑face interaction, but found that he did not miss anything and actually prefers the solitude.

He stresses that the real advantage of remote work is flexibility and advises against trying to recreate a traditional office at home. He warns that spending hours in online meetings merely brings the worst parts of office life into the home environment.

Torvalds limits his own meetings to less than an hour per week, favoring email, shared calendars, and other text‑based communication. He notes that the Linux kernel development itself is coordinated through mailing lists.

James Bottomley, a senior Linux kernel engineer, echoes this advice, emphasizing clear, concise written communication and avoiding overly long messages that lose the reader’s interest.

For necessary video or audio meetings, Torvalds suggests simplifying and structuring the agenda to keep them short. He also recommends using various tools to track completed and pending tasks, especially when working in a collaborative team.

Overall, Torvalds believes remote work offers genuine scheduling freedom, allowing people to step out for errands or play with pets without being confined to an office.

He humorously adds that the most embarrassing moment while working from home is answering a delivery in a bathrobe at 3 p.m., and concludes with his motto: Whatever, I’m home, and nobody is here to judge .