In a rare public encounter, tech giants Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds finally met up for dinner after decades of work in the industry. The meeting took place at a dinner hosted by Mark Russinovich, Microsoft’s CTO of Azure.
The two industry leaders have never been seen together in a friendly outing despite both being prominent figures in the tech world. However, their chance meeting has ended the deadlock between them.
Gates and Torvalds represent opposing ideologies in the tech industry. Gates is known for his focus on monetizing software through licensing and controlling the ecosystem to maximize profits. In contrast, Torvalds advocates for open-source collaboration and prioritizes software freedom over corporate control.
Torvalds has often joked about Microsoft’s operating systems, calling them “crappy” and likening PC users to air conditioning – useful only when windows are closed. The difference in ideologies may have contributed to their past lack of meetings, but there is no known enmity between the two.
Despite not making any “major kernel decisions,” the meeting suggests a thawing of tensions between the tech giants. With Gates and Torvalds now having met face-to-face, the future of collaboration and innovation in the tech industry may be more promising than ever.
Source: https://wccftech.com/microsoft-founder-bill-gates-and-linux-creator-linus-torvalds-cross-paths-for-the-first-time-in-50-years