Linus Torvalds: Why I love my Google Nexus One

David M Williams
Sunday, 07 February 2010 11:12

Opinion and Analysis

Unexpected and unsolicited praise for the Google phone has emerged from none other than Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel.

In good news for Google, Torvalds wrote on his blog this weekend that he broke down and bought a Nexus One last week.

Torvalds achieved fame for creating the Linux kernel which he described in 1991 as 'just a hobby'.

In the almost two decades since Linux has grown to be a mature operating system in its own right powering nearly 46% of web servers across the globe.

Torvalds first describes his general disdain for mobile phones as a disruptive device and although he has owned a couple over the years he generally avoids using them. In particular, he largely used them only when travelling and even then just for playing games on long flights.

With Google's announcement that zooming gestures has been enabled Torvalds was persuaded to buy a Nexus One, primarily driven by the desire to have a GPS unit powered by Google's navigation facilities.

He pleasantly reports his expectations were well met and he's even now regularly carrying a phone by choice.

'I no longer feel like I'm dragging a phone with me 'just in case'' he says, '... now I'm having a useful (and admittedly pretty good-looking) gadget instead. The fact you can use it as a phone too is kind of secondary.'

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