Torvalds: Outside threats to Linux

Linux creator Linus Torvalds says that non-technical issues such as software patents constitute the single biggest threat to the future success of the
open-source OS.

During a surprise guest appearance at Novell’s annual BrainShare user conference, the Finnish open-source guru took part in a question-and-answer
session with the networking-software company’s chief executive and chairman Jack Messman and vice chairman Chris Stone.

When asked what he thought was the biggest threat to Linux, Torvalds said he was extremely confident that the operating system itself was robust but
admitted problems outside of technical sphere may cause trouble further down the line. “The things that tend to worry me are software patents. When
non-technical issues can be used to stop software development–that for me is the scariest part,” he said.