Linus Torvalds For Nobel Peace Prize? 541
An anonymous reader writes "I'm as much of a Linux fanboy as anyone else, but I've never thought of anything in computing as being worth a Nobel Peace Prize. Apparently, there are those who take global collaboration seriously, though..." The suggestion has been bouncing around the Portland Linux community, where Torvalds lives. Is it worthy of wider attention and discussion?
In a word... (Score:1, Informative)
"Is it worthy of wider attention and discussion?"
No.
Farcical (Score:3, Informative)
Re:List his peace initiatives... (Score:5, Informative)
He created a multinational project of cooperation between tons of people all over the globe and made a project that has helped change the computer industry and lower costs, making computing more affordable for everyone. Sounds good to me.
That's a lot better than saying you'll do things but not having done them yet.
He'll never win. The prize is very political, and I doubt they would give it to someone who isn't in their group of admired people. As a PR tool, it could be much more valuable to give it to someone else.
Are there better candidates? I'd certainly expect so. But look at the list of winners [nobelprizes.com]. While some are obviously good (Doctors Without Borders, The Dalai Llama) others are much more questionable.
Re:List his peace initiatives... (Score:1, Informative)
The Dalai Lama are also questionable [youtube.com].
Re:Linux Peace Prize? (Score:2, Informative)
More importantly, the Peace Prize is not given just for creating positive change. It is given specifically for improving relations between nations, reducing standing armies, and promoting peace congresses. While that is interpreted loosely - especially in recent years, giving it to a software developer would be a huge jump. In a sense, it would be like giving the Peace Prize to the manufacturer of the hammer that was first used on the Berlin Wall.
Re:He deserves it (Score:1, Informative)
Torvalds is just the founder of Linux, which has been developed by countless people. Also, Linux is just a kernel which is useless on its own without the rest of the operating system and software running on it. Thus, it would be unfair to all the other free software devs if Torvalds got the prize. If anyone, it should be Stallman, for writing the GPL, for starting the free software movement and spreading knowlege of the existence of free software and for explicitly backing a public cause, and basically dedicating his life to it. In comparison, Torvalds is just an above average software engineer/project manager, who doesn't care about the public good so much as writing good code and getting the credit.
Re:Can we stop with the Obama comparisons? (Score:4, Informative)
The Obama peace prize meme is really annoying. I don't think it was a great idea to give the prize to him but it the idea that we don't give nobel peace prizes to people to encourage/support/recognize potential work is just wrong. For example, the 1935 prize went to Carl von Ossietsky for his journalism and peace activism against the Nazis. He had at that point done very little to stop the Nazis. And we all know how well he actually succeeded. Not at all. But that prize was completely reasonable. There's a long history of giving the prizes to people who promise future work.
Carl von Ossietsky did not receive the peace prize for "potential work". he received the prize for the work he had done publicizing the German violations of the Treaty of Versailles and for speaking out against the Nazi Party. He received the prize for actions he had already taken, even if such actions had been ineffective. Please try again to provide an example of someone (other than Obama) who received the Nobel Peace Prize for actions they had promised to take at some indefinite time in the future.
Re:Linux Peace Prize? (Score:5, Informative)
"(okay, Carter brokered the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement back in the 1970's which later fell apart, and did a lot of post-presidential negotiation work, but really..."
Look, I loathe Carter as much as the next gut, but at least get your facts straight. Carter won the prize for brokering the Egypt/Israeli peace agreement which, last I checked, still holds. That puts him pretty high on the list of people who have done something to further peace in the world, and he deserved the prize.
Now, if he had only spent more time and attention on the US, maybe his presidency wouldn't be viewed as a total failure.
Re:List his peace initiatives... (Score:3, Informative)
Hitler and Stalin have been nominated for the prize, heck, Hitler was time magazine man of the year!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize [wikipedia.org]
Re:He deserves it (Score:4, Informative)
Number 4 according to Squaretrade, a company that sells warranties on computers and is a direct competitor to Apple's Applecare.
Just saying.
fwiw, Consumer Reports consistently ranks Apple at the top or near the top in satisfaction, reliability, and tech support. I can't draw any overall conclusions of my own since most laptop failures I have seen among my friends (covering the gamut of manufacturers) have been a result of physical abuse. otoh a laptop's ability to take abuse without breaking is a big selling point for me.
-b
Re:List his peace initiatives... (Score:3, Informative)
>Who's to say that as time went forward during his reign, things wouldn't have changed naturally and of their own course?
Michael Parenti [michaelparenti.org] has written extensively about pre-invasion Tibet. It was a harmful theocracy run on the feudal system. It wanst just "under-developed." Money, law, etc was dictated by monks. Serfs had few rights. It was a human rights nightmare.
I dont know why people who have a political interest in Tibet cant simply accept that all theocracies are terrible because its a terrible form of government. This one was no different. Even the Lama himself has said that if Tibet would be freed it would not be anything like the old oppressive state, but a Western-style government based on the SECULAR enlightenment. Funny how that works.
>Invading Tibet wasn't a move to "free" the people of Tibet, it was a move to seize the territory during a time of political instability.
Actually it was both. An idealistic revolution isnt going to sit there and have a feudal theocracy on its border, especially one with a mismanaged military that would be easy to take.
Re:List his peace initiatives... (Score:1, Informative)
Reopening diplomatic dies between the US and its allies? Have you been asleep since February? He insulted England. Several times. He nearly started a trade war with several foreign countries over some "buy American" language in the stimulus boondoggle. He's consistently giving Israel the middle finger. He dissed Merkel by skipping the celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. He just told all of Europe to f*ck off regarding climate change (arguably the right thing to do since it's just a pretense for global taxation powers anyway).
What countries did Obama visit last week that the US didn't already have diplomatic ties with? China? Japan? Try again. Remember the big stink about Obama bowing deeply to the Emperor of Japan? And PLENTY of people are pissed that Obama won't pressure China over human rights issues. And before you say the word "Gitmo," you'd do well to remember that Gitmo is still open for one reason only - because Obama wants it to be open. Now that the Democrats don't have George Bush to kick around any more, Gitmo has lost all value as a political weapon.
Re:He deserves it (Score:5, Informative)
You are right (which I have to say, otherwise you will try to continue being argumentative) that the other developers deserve credit, too. Of course they do. RMS couldn't have done it alone. But there is a reason RMS is well recognized.
Re:He deserves it (Score:3, Informative)
CR's notebook reliability numbers are somewhat meaningless for comparing Apple to vendors which manufacture sub $500 notebooks. The low end notebooks have to cut corners which will reduce reliability (more plastic, less metal etc.). CR should really compare reliability of notebooks by vendor based on price (perhaps in two classes - $750 for base product).
Re:Linux Peace Prize? (Score:3, Informative)
Hey, I'll give Ronald Reagan credit for being a part of it, but Gorbachev is the important one here. Gorbachev had to pull out of Afghanistan, he had to let the Eastern Bloc Warsaw Pact nations determine how to handle their internal affairs. All of this was guaranteed to greatly reduce his own personal influence, and had a good chance (As it turns out, great chance) of greatly reducing the influence of communism in the world. Seeing as how Soviet Dogma suggested that the communist revolution needed to spread across the globe in order to succeed, he was basically blowing up his country in exchange for peace. On the other hand, America pretty much carried on as before.