Linus Torvalds Gives Windows 7 a Thumbs Up

By Marcus Yam
published

Oh no he didn't!

Ah Linux – the free, open source operating system that bucks the mass market trend. Those who know it inside out may love it because it's many things that Windows is not.

The founding father of Linux, Linus Torvalds, one that you wouldn't expect to be paying attention to Windows 7, was actually caught giving a big thumbs up to the new Microsoft operating system. See?

In actuality, Torvalds was attending the Japan Linux Symposium. The picture was taken as some sort of gag, as Torvalds did not purchase a copy from that stall.

(Source via Engadget.)

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
37 Comments Comment from the forums
  • BoxBabaX
    In actuality, Torvalds was attending the Japan Linux Symposium. The picture was taken as some sort of gag, as Torvalds did not purchase a copy from that stall.

    In actuality, he was giving a thumbs up to Windows 7 :D. haha
    Reply
  • tipoo
    Gotta love the guy :-P
    Reply
  • cookoy
    Sure doesn't look like the middle finger. Yup, thumbs up. You're a sport. Call a spade a spade.
    Reply
  • ssalim
    A good product is a good product proven to be good by many.
    Even if President Obama were giving a thumbs down on Win7, it's still a good product.
    Reply
  • OMG!
    Either Hell must have frozen over or someone set him up! :O
    Reply
  • now of course there will be a new mac ad targeting linux now.
    Reply
  • he is moron
    Reply
  • tanderskey
    that Linus is really too nice a guy, if he was trying to communicate that MS was doing a good job with Win7.

    what he probably meant was, Its nearly as good as the OS i wrote in my college dorm a decade or so ago.
    Reply
  • He's smiling, and giving the thumbs up to indicate Windows 7 will indeed be Vista + Window Blinds and DesktopX.... :-D
    Reply
  • Linus is the man...
    Reply