Linux creator Linus Torvalds shares Millennium Technology Prize

That's pretty cool. Remembering back to the old Minix/Linux flame fest I would not have ever predicted it would end up this way.<p>I'm struck by the fact that these sorts of things are often given to people who have persisted, year after year, in pursuit of singular excellence in a particular topic. I highly respect folks who have that level of grit.

I have always been curious whether Linus has made good money for his contributions. This both made me happy that he was given some money and prompted me to find out whether he has made money otherwise.<p>It looks like he has [1], and thats awesome.<p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds#Later_years" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds#Later_years</a>

"It is estimated that a total of 73,000 man-years have been spent working on the code."<p>That is such a mind-boggling number that I can scarcely believe it.

I really can't put in words how much I admire Linus!<p>If you know Linux's history, met the community or if you've tried Linux... it's hard not to fall in love with it.

I don't mean to take away from Linus' achievement, nor to sound like RMS, but every time people refer to "the Linux operating system" it's misappropriating credit. They usually mean GNU/Linux and the kernel is only one piece of that.<p>EDIT: Disregard this comment, the article has been edited removing references to Linux as an operating system.

I wonder how the internet would've turned up without Linu(s/x).