Linux has definitely made a lot of sense even in a purely materialistic sense.

It's what I call "mental masturbation", when you engage is some pointless intellectual exercise that has no possible meaning.

One of the reasons that I really don't mind that people are selling Linux commercially is exactly because it does make me feel good that people use the product.

I actually think that I'm a rather optimistic and happy person; it's just that I'm not a very positive person, if you see the difference.

By staying neutral, I end up being somebody that everybody can trust. Even if they don't always agree with my decisions, they know I'm not working against them.

I think of myself as an engineer, not as a visionary or 'big thinker.' I don't have any lofty goals.

With software, you really can replicate and do a lot of very real and active development in parallel, and actually try it out and see what works.