Linus Torvalds leaves Transmeta to work full-time on Linux

105
– By Robin ‘Roblimo’ Miller

In a post to the linux-kernel email list early in the morning on June 17, Torvalds wrote, “…I’ve
decided to take a leave-of-absense after 6+ years at Transmeta to
actually work full-time on the kernel.”

He continued, “Transmeta has always been very good at letting me spend even an
inordinate amount of time on Linux, but as a result I’ve been feeling a
little guilty at just how little “real work” I got done lately. To fix
that, I’ll instead be working at OSDL, finally actually doing Linux as
my main job.”

OSDL (Open Source Development Lab) describes itself as “a non-profit, global consortium of leading technology companies dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux.”

OSDL appointed computer industry veteran Stu Cohen as CEO in April. NewsForge interviewed Cohen on April 21.

OSDL is sponsored by Linux-interested companies including Alcatel, Cisco, Computer Associates, Dell, Ericsson, Force Computers, Fujitsu, HP, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Linuxcare, Miracle Linux Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric, MontaVista Software, NEC Corporation, Nokia, Red Hat, SuSE, Toshiba and VA Software. (NewsForge is owned by VA Software.)

Torvalds used this email as an opportunity to thank Transmeta for their support of his Linux work. He said, “Transmeta has always been very good at letting me spend even an
inordinate amount of time on Linux, but as a result I’ve been feeling a
little guilty at just how little ‘real work’ I got done lately. To fix
that, I’ll instead be working at OSDL, finally actually doing Linux as
my main job.”

He said an official press release he described as “boring” will be issued shortly by Transmeta and OSDL, that he “just
wanted to say thanks to Transmeta. It has been a special place to work
for, and hello to OSDL that I hope will be the same,” and and closed his email with these words:

“Snif. I’m actually all teary-eyed.”

Category:

  • Linux