{"id":151722,"date":"2025-06-24T09:31:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T09:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/bill-gates-and-linus-torvalds-had-been-rivals-for-30-years-the-funny-thing-is-that-they-just-met-and-took-a-selfie-together\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T09:31:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T09:31:29","slug":"bill-gates-and-linus-torvalds-had-been-rivals-for-30-years-the-funny-thing-is-that-they-just-met-and-took-a-selfie-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/bill-gates-and-linus-torvalds-had-been-rivals-for-30-years-the-funny-thing-is-that-they-just-met-and-took-a-selfie-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds had been rivals for 30 years. The funny thing is that they just met and took a selfie together."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Historic Meeting Between Two Legends<\/h2>\n

Being a \u00a0technology aficionado\u00a0 in the late 90s and early 2000s was a unique experience, as it presented a \u00a0fierce battle\u00a0 between supporters of Windows, MacOS, and those who chose to rebel against both by embracing \u00a0free software\u00a0 via GNU\/Linux. These camps were vividly personified by iconic figures: \u00a0Bill Gates\u00a0, \u00a0Steve Jobs\u00a0, and \u00a0Linus Torvalds\u00a0. The relationship between Gates and Jobs has always been marked by a certain love-hate dynamic that led them into both \u00a0collaborative ventures\u00a0 and \u00a0public disputes\u00a0.<\/p>\n

However, after three decades of mutual animosity and public feud, it wasn’t until \u00a02025\u00a0 that *Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds finally met face to face*, capturing a moment that would astonish many tech enthusiasts worldwide.<\/p>\n

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Gates has consistently defended the right of developers to \u00a0license\u00a0 and charge for their software. On the other hand, Torvalds has championed an \u00a0open and collaborative model\u00a0, allowing users to \u00a0freely adapt\u00a0 their tools. Gates embodies the tradition of proprietary software, while Torvalds stands as a beacon for the community-driven philosophy behind Linux.<\/p>\n

Despite being the faces of their respective movements, the two had never met in person until now. The individual responsible for facilitating this landmark encounter was \u00a0Mark Russinovich\u00a0, the creator of the popular \u00a0Sysinternals software\u00a0 and currently the \u00a0Chief Technology Officer\u00a0 of Microsoft Azure. Advocating for open-source solutions, Russinovich invited Torvalds to dine with Gates, alongside \u00a0Dave Cutler\u00a0, another significant figure from the Windows development team.<\/p>\n

While little has been disclosed about the discussions during this momentous dinner, the \u00a0historic selfie\u00a0 taken by Russinovich offers a glimpse into a seemingly cordial meeting between two former adversaries. He shared the image on his \u00a0LinkedIn profile\u00a0, showcasing the relaxed and friendly demeanor of Gates and Torvalds, marking a shift in their public personas after decades of rivalry.<\/p>\n

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Russinovich expressed his excitement about the historic moment, stating, “I had the thrill of a lifetime hosting dinner for Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, and David Cutler. Linus had never met Bill, and Dave hadn\u2019t met Linus either. No significant decisions were made regarding the kernel, but perhaps at the next dinner.” This light-hearted comment encapsulates the irony of their meeting: two titans of the tech world finally coming together to share not just a meal, but perhaps ideas for the future as well.<\/p>\n

Linux on the Rise and Microsoft Becoming More Integrative<\/h2>\n

The timing of this encounter couldn\u2019t be more relevant. Linux continues to gain traction, particularly in the cloud infrastructure arena, now operating on approximately \u00a0100 million systems\u00a0, equating to a \u00a04.13% market share\u00a0. This is a significant growth from the \u00a02% market share\u00a0 it reported in *2021 and 2022*. Meanwhile, Windows maintains a substantial lead at \u00a070.21%\u00a0 of the market, according to \u00a0Statcounter\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Microsoft has evolved since the days when former CEO \u00a0Steve Ballmer\u00a0 famously disparaged Linux as a “cancer.” Under the leadership of \u00a0Satya Nadella\u00a0, the company has embraced a more amicable approach. One pivotal demonstration of this shift was the introduction of the \u00a0Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)\u00a0, allowing users to run a Linux environment directly on Windows machines.<\/p>\n

While Russinovich’s post concludes that “no significant kernel decisions were made” during this historical dinner, the mere gathering of these influential individuals may signal a promising future for greater \u00a0integration of Linux\u00a0 into Microsoft\u2019s Azure platform. Future dinners may yield even more impactful discussions.<\/p>\n

The evolution of technology often brings unexpected alliances, and this meeting illustrates that even long-standing rivals can find common ground when the focus shifts toward collaboration and innovation. As the tech world continues to evolve, it will be fascinating to see how these relationships develop and shape future developments.<\/p>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Historic Meeting Between Two Legends Being a \u00a0technology aficionado\u00a0 in the late 90s and early 2000s was a unique experience, as it presented a \u00a0fierce battle\u00a0 between supporters of Windows, MacOS, and those who chose to rebel against both by embracing \u00a0free software\u00a0 via GNU\/Linux. These camps were vividly personified by iconic figures: \u00a0Bill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[379,6132,14518,37515,1067,2762,11101,37516,45],"class_list":["post-151722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-bill","tag-funny","tag-gates","tag-linus","tag-met","tag-rivals","tag-selfie","tag-torvalds","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}