(Ouch! That hurts! (Parenthetical comment notwithstanding))

(lawyers are whores - they are paid to argue for their client, not for the law)
-- Linus Torvalds in the Linux Kernel Mailing List "Re:GPL V3 and Linux - Dead Copyright Holders".

Holy War Version III

I literally feel that we do not - as software developers - have the moral right to enforce our rules on hardware manufacturers. We are not crusaders, trying to force people to bow to our superior God. We are trying to show others that co-operation and openness works better.
-- Linus Torvalds in the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML) "Re: GPL V3 and Linux - Dead Copyright Holders".

Elitist?

The computer, Postscript, the Internet and "globalization" have unleashed a couple of cultural revolutions which also churned the understanding of writing in a mess. A clear lake was transformed into a muddy marsh landscape. All the old rules and values are jeopardized, being replaced with many contradictory new ones. Non-professionals are allowed to make typography - it's the end of knowledge in the hands of a few: a lot of people who have always been reading, but hardly writing, discovered a cultural asset - design, like with silverware or chairs.
-- Manfred Klein, "Manfred Klein - the interview" (This article is a translation from the original piece in German)

People is an important part of the equation

"Communication between people is what makes us a society... The World Wide Web is, together, technology and society. It is computers and people."
-- Tim Berners-Lee. "Sir Tim Berners-Lee Gives Congress Vision Of The Future", Embedded.com, Jan 3, 2007

Childhood Dreams

“As a little child, I cried because I wanted to fly into outer space. My parents found it hard to pacify me with toys. I also wanted to explore the depths of the ocean floor as much as I wanted to sail across the high heavens. And so I became a PADI-certified scuba diver and also a student pilot.”
-- Namira Salim. "Namira — first female astronaut from Dubai," Khaleej Times Online, 2 April 2006. She would be the first Pakistani woman to be in space on the Virgin Galactic Space Ship in 2008.

Alphabets of horror

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z."
-- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. "Transcript: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses 9/11 role", CNN.com, March 15, 2007.

I need a vacation!

...I've always taken big vacations. I get quite intense about what I'm doing and get very involved with work, and then I take my vacations, which have usually been climbing mountains or skiing or doing a lot of exploration.
-- Frances Allen in Frances Allen's Oral History Interview - Transcript. She is the first woman to receive the Turing Award.

Going against the current

"They're using the Steve Jobs method, ... You don't use focus groups. You just do it right."
-- John Maeda, in reference to the design process of XO, the $100 Laptop. "The Face of the $100 Laptop," March 1, 2oo7.

Goals in life

I don't have a problem with someone using their talents to become successful, I just don't think the highest calling is success. Things like freedom and the expansion of knowledge are beyond success, beyond the personal. Personal success is not wrong, but it is limited in importance, and once you have enough of it it is a shame to keep striving for that, instead of for truth, beauty, or justice.
-- Richard Stallman in "Free Software as a Social Movement," ZNet, December 18, 2005.

Give me liberty or...

I'm a Liberal, in US terms (not Canadian terms). I'm against fascism.
-- Richard Stallman in "Free Software as a Social Movement," ZNet, December 18, 2005.

(Apparently liberalism is not a global unified thing. See Liberalism at Wikipedia.)

Two sides of the same coin

"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man; when a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch."
-- Bette Davis, as quoted in "Who are you calling a bitch?," The Guardian, January 26, 2007.

One statement too long

"Zaman nabi bercinta dan kahwin dengan Khadijah dulu, umur Nabi berapa? Berapa umur Siti Khadijah?... Tua ke muda tu? Dah nak mampus ke tidak tu?"

Translation: "When the Prophet courted and then married Khadijah, what was his age? How about Siti Khadijah's age? Was she young or old? Wasn't she about to kick the bucket?"

-- Rosnah Mat Aris, during a live show on TV3. I think the first three statements were forgivable although a bit out of taste. But the last one pretty much sealed the wrath of the people.

Yin and Yang

People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.
-- Alan Kay, as quoted by Steve Jobs when he introduced the iPhone at MacWorld 2007.

Learn to know

I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.
-- Richard Feynman
(Does anyone know where he mentioned this?)