ouch: Ken Thompson on Linux

John M. Klassa (klassa@aur.alcatel.com)
Fri, 11 Jun 1999 13:43:30 -0400


Sounds like Ken doesn't think much of Linux...

> Computer: In a sense, Linux is following in this tradition. Any
> thoughts on this phenomenon?
>
> Thompson: I view Linux as something that's not Microsoft-a backlash
> against Microsoft, no more and no less. I don't think it will be
> very successful in the long run. I've looked at the source and there
> are pieces that are good and pieces that are not. A whole bunch
> of random people have contributed to this source, and the quality
> varies drastically.
>
> My experience and some of my friends' experience is that Linux
> is quite unreliable. Microsoft is really unreliable but Linux is
> worse. In a non-PC environment, it just won't hold up. If you're
> using it on a single box, that's one thing. But if you want to use
> Linux in firewalls, gateways, embedded systems, and so on, it has a
> long way to go.

Full text at:

http://www.computer.org/computer/thompson.htm

-- 
John Klassa / Alcatel USA / Raleigh, NC, USA

Nobody designs a natural language by themselves, unless their name happens to be Tolkien. -- Larry Wall (http://kiev.wall.org/~larry/natural.html)