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Video: Torvalds on why the kernel is so special

Munir Kotadia and Chris Duckett ZDNet Australia

Published: 25 Jan 2007 08:00 GMT

In this one-minute video, the creator and maintainer of the Linux kernel, Linus Torvalds, explains what makes his pet project so special.

At Linux.conf.au in Sydney, Linus Torvalds spoke about what makes coding the kernel different from creating "real" applications.

"I have always felt that the thing that makes the kernel special is [that] it never does anything on its own… It has no agenda. It is at the mercy of all the "real" programs that actually do something for the user... I try to see what are the issues that users have with programs and what are things that we in the kernel can help them do better," he said.

To watch the first part of this interview, in which Torvalds talks about digital rights management and the GPLv3, click here.

To all Linux users: this video is presented in Flash 8 and has been tested successfully for use with Linux systems running the latest Flash plug-in for Linux (ver. 9.0). Currently, this version is not available from Adobe for those running 64-bit Linux.

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Its the applications and device drivers that run on windows that cement its dominance. How many people would fork out hundreds of pounds for Vista if Linux ran all the software and kit they wanted to use.