Linus Torvalds for Nobel Peace Prize?

[chasingsparks]

I'm a big fan of Torvalds as a person and Linux as a movement. However, taking intent of the peace prize in mind -- "during the preceding year [...] shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." -- I don't really see his eligibility.

[patio11]

Well, the only true test for his eligibility is "Does awarding the Nobel Prize to this person advance the interests of the Nobel Committee?", but given that an award to Linus doesn't obviously embarrass George Bush, I'm thinking you're probably right.

[enntwo]

It is a nice thought, but it does seem to not fall under the scope of the prize.

It would probably make more sense to pursue the creation of a Nobel (or other global prize) category for Compuational/Information Sciences. The impact of progress in this field have just as much, if not more, of an effect on the world today as the other Nobel fields (Chemsitry, Biology, etc.) Note: I am not saying this is a realistic possibility, but it is probably more likely than a computer scientist winning the peace prize.

It seems like there are plenty of people in the field (as well as other Engineering related fields that are more relevant to the world now than they were during the creation of the Nobel prizes) that justify a global acknowledgement. Considering the importance of the internet in global daily life, and the fact that now jQuery is used on 1/5th of the world's websites, it seems Resig has had enough influence on the world to deserve metion too. Remember, the Nobel prizes stress more recent accomplishments over past successes.

[chaosprophet]

>I don't really see his eligibility. Remember a certain US president getting it for writing speeches???

[cabalamat]

Linux, and free software in general, most certainly does promote "fraternity between nations" since it's all about people collaboratively developing something that benefits the entire human species. Though personally I'd be more inclined to give the prize to Stallman.

[maw]

The idea is similar to Norman Borlaug's Nobel, although I'd argue that the case for Torvalds isn't nearly as strong, or, at least, far more diffuse.

On the other hand, it isn't hard to think of worse recipients.

[markbnine]

"Linux helped sequence the human genome, helps protect the world computer infrastructure from viral attack, and is now the pathway for millions to learn computer programming and participate in new international efforts"

Using this logic, Bill Gates should also be up for the award (and considering his philanthropy, maybe he should).

There is a paradigm problem here. One does not award the builder of Mother Teresa's orphanage a peace prize (even if it is quite nice). The award goes to Mother Teresa.

[adw]

If the Gates Foundation nail malaria and other diseases of poverty then he should.

[michael_nielsen]

Torvalds, Stallman, and Lessig would make an excellent combination, in my opinion - they've done incredible things to expand the intellectual commons, and that does great things for the "fraternity of nations". Think of all the international friendships and other relationships maintained using open source tools and the ideas of open culture.

The nomination process is described here:

http://nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/

[a-priori]

What I would like to see is it awarded to "the open source community" as a whole, with that trio accepting it.

[gtt]

IMO, Stallman should be nominated too.

[jff]

You're right--Gore started the job of devaluing the prizes, now we just have to give one to Stallman and nobody will ever care about the Nobel Prize again.

[motters]

It's not at all clear to me that when Torvalds started Linux he was necessarily trying to advance world peace. His motivations seem to have been much more practical and somewhat self motivated (scratching a personal itch). If they're handing out prizes Richard Stallman might be a better candidate, since his motives were explicitly altruistic from the outset (advancing freedom for computer users).

[Aegean]

RMS and Torvalds should share the prize. RMS deserves it since he's the founder of the idea of free software, and Torvalds deserves it because based on the idea he created a collaborative movement of exceptional engineering.

[henrikschroder]

Yes, the peace prize has sometimes gone to controversial or unexpected people, but that doesn't mean the process is completely without rules. First, these people can nominate for the peace prize:

http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/nomination_committee/who-ca...

If you're not on that list, sending Norwegian Ubuntu CDs to the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee as the article suggests is going to achieve absolutely nothing.

Second, read the actual will of Alfred Nobel:

http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/alfred-nobel/testament/

"and one part to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses"

Does Linus Torvalds fit that description? Not even remotely close. If the author of the article had spent a few more minutes actually researching the rules, and not just browsing Wikipedia, he could have avoided writing the thing altogether.

[mieses]

so what. they stopped following those rules a long time ago. regardless, torvalds would decline since he seems to have integrity.

[zandorg]

I think some people see the Nobel as "Awards for great things", but really it hasn't caught up with the times. Politics is also involved. So it's "Awards for whoever they THINK has done great things" - also bound by categories which don't even include mathematics (the non-Nobel/pseudo prize is for Economics)...

[mdemare]

Linus deserves a Nobel Prize, but he likes flamewars way too much to get the Peace Prize. How about literature? Why should that be limited to writers of human languages?

[DenisM]

Well, that would make for one awkward acceptance speech. If you've seen Linus giving presentation you can imagine...

[pmjordan]

He'd certainly start by insulting everyone not using git...

[standalonematt]

What about the economics prize (I know, not a real nobel prize) going to members of the free/open source software community. Their works have really shown that great things can be built by a community of people, with limited central leadership and without a clear profit motive.

[philwelch]

The economics prize usually goes to an economist, not to someone who actually demonstrates something about the economy in practice.

[nzmsv]

Linus deserves this way more than Obama does. Why? Because you don't give prizes for expected good work. You give a prize looking back on what's been accomplished.

I think this nomination will help inspire the next generation of young hackers, and I say go for it.

[mahmud]

"benevolent dictator"?

[known]

RMS is not as diplomatic as Linus.

[ajaimk]

He has my vote if that matters.

[omouse]

Disgusting. If anything, Richard Stallman should be nominated for it as he has done far more and the Free Software movement is much more in line with the intent of the Nobel Peace Prize.

[mieses]

i would agree with you. stallman is a better fit for a nobel. he's such an inspiration. torvalds just works hard, which is so trivial and boring.

[rmason]

I twittered that Linus is more deserving of a Nobel than either Obama or Carter.

But Ronald Reagan though freed something like 125 million people and he never received it.

Bill Clinton single handedly has raised over a billion dollars for the third world poor and he hasn't received it.

[diego_moita]

> But Ronald Reagan though freed something like 125 million people and he never received it.

No, he didn't. Gorbachev did.