What Linus Torvalds Reveals About 25 Years of Linux Development

Robert Young and Linus Torvalds Interview

Robert Young: I'm glad we have an excuse to get in touch. How are you and your family? Your kids must be in college now. My wife Nancy, our three daughters, and I are doing well. When Marc and I founded Red Hat, Zoe was 11; now she's expecting a second child, so I'm a grandfather.

Linus Torvalds: Actually my kids aren't all graduated yet; Patricia will graduate in May, and Celeste is in her final year of high school, so in six months we'll be empty‑nesters.

Bob: When I first interviewed you in 1994, did you ever think you'd still be maintaining this in 2019?

Linus: I was surprised back in 1994 that my project would become something I keep doing for decades. It started as a fun project that grew into something essential to my life. I never set a long‑term plan; I work day by day.

Bob: You once joked that the goal of Linux was to "rule the world." That joke has become reality. What's next?

Linus: I stopped making that joke a long time ago because it no longer feels like a joke. The reason we do this work is to build better technology and tackle interesting challenges.

He notes that while hardware, problems, and his role have changed, the core principle of "doing better and finding interesting challenges" remains unchanged.

Bob: In 25 years, where will you and the kernel be?

Linus: I’ll be about 75 then; I’m not sure I’ll still be as active, but I might continue as I’ve been involved for almost 30 years.

He emphasizes the strong developer community and that the project will likely persist for another 25 years because of its development model, not because of any specific code detail.

Bob: Over the years, have you rewritten the kernel or considered using a language more modern than C?

Linus: Many subsystems have been rewritten gradually. The kernel remains largely C; we have added extensions for type checking and runtime verification, but C is still the primary language for kernel development.

He explains that higher‑level languages are used for user‑space applications, not for low‑level kernel work.

Bob: What hardware do you use?

Linus: A fairly ordinary PC workstation I built myself, very quiet with no moving parts. When traveling, I need a good screen and light weight; my current compromise is the XPS 13.

Bob: Linux’s desktop success seems to be driven more by Android devices than PCs. Your thoughts?

Linus: Traditional PCs are no longer dominant; most people use browsers and apps on tablets or phones. PCs are still important for developers, gamers, and media editors.

He adds that Android accounts for a large share of daily Linux interactions.

Bob: What advice do you have for young programmers or CS students?

Linus: I was mostly self‑taught and followed my own interests. I can’t tell you what to do; just pursue what excites you.

Bob: How do you handle email overload?

Linus: I still often dump mail to /dev/null; if something is important, the sender will resend. I’ve moved to cloud‑based mail and use git for patch distribution, which reduces the email burden.

He also mentions a personal rule: if a reply isn’t necessary, don’t reply.

Bob: Any final thoughts?

Linus: I have no particular message to spread.

About Robert Young and His Past 25 Years

Born in 1976, Young graduated from the University of Toronto with a history degree, then sold typewriters. He founded his first company in 1978 and ran two computer‑rental firms in Canada for 15 years. After selling the second, he moved to the U.S. in 1992 to expand a subsidiary, which later went bankrupt, prompting him to start his own ventures.

His early work led to the founding of Red Hat in 1993 with Marc Ewing. Young loved open source because it allowed better service to technical customers. He served as Red Hat CEO until 1999, then as chairman while Matthew Szulik became CEO. Red Hat is now a S&P 500 company.

In 2000, Young co‑founded the Center for Public Domain, a nonprofit promoting healthy IP law, benefiting groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Creative Commons.

In 2003, he purchased the Hamilton Tiger‑Cats of the Canadian Rugby League and serves as vice‑chair.

In 2004, he helped launch Lulu.com, the first on‑demand self‑publishing platform, which remains a leading innovator for authors.

In 2012, Young invested in PrecisionHawk, a leading U.S. drone company, and serves on its board.

Since 2016, he has worked with Scott Mitchell and a Toronto team to organize Canada’s own professional soccer league, owning the Hamilton Forge team, with the league set to start in April 2019.

Currently, he assists his wife Nancy with Elizabeth Bradley Design and Needlepoint.com, aiming to grow a global community of embroidery enthusiasts.

In his spare time, he enjoys family activities, fly‑fishing, kite‑boarding, golf, and recently began collecting antique typewriters as a tribute to his early career.