Linus Torvalds on the state of software security, the Internet of Things, and the future of Linux

The surprise guest at LinuxCon in Seattle this morning was none other than Linus Torvalds, the driving force behind the Linux kernel and a central figure in the open-source movement. Torvalds wasn’t on stage for long, speaking for less than 15 minutes in a Q&A with Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin, but he touched on several key topics, including the Internet of Things, security issues, and his ongoing role in overseeing the Linux kernel.

Zemlin started by quoting from a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article that said Torvalds “may be the most influential individual economic force of the past 20 years” — “as instrumental in retooling the production lines of the modern economy as Henry Ford was 100 years earlier.”

Torvalds joked in response, “I love open source and how all that credit goes to me.” Turning serious, he added, “Realistically, the only power I have is to say no, and sometimes I do that in a colorful manner. … I get a lot of kudos for these days being just a maintainer, and manager of a lot of very productive people.”