It's Linus, Not Leenus: CNBC Interviews Creator Of Linux OS

Itis pronounced Linus, as in the Charlie Brown character. CNBC Griffeth started off his interview of Linux creator Linux Torvalds by asking him if it was true that he now wanted his name pronounced "Liinus" instead of "Leenus." According to Mr. Griffeth, the last time Mr. Torvalds had appeared on CNBC, he had asked that it be pronounced Leenus. My. Torvalds replied that he had been living in the States for four years now and everybody sad Liinus, so he was going with that. Mr. Griffeth encouraged Mr. Torvalds to stick by his guns and ask for his name to be pronounced the way he wants it. Kind of funny.

Mr. Torvalds is the coauthor of his autobiography Just for Fun : The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary. Before the segment, Mr. Griffeth promoted the upcoming interview by saying the book was very funny and very entertaining. He said that Mr. Torvalds began the book by talking about the meaning of life, while the very last line at the end of the book was "Of course, I could be wrong." Promoting that book was the purpose of the interview, and what follows is a very rough and on-the-fly transcript of that interview:

CNBC: The title of your book is Just For Fun, An Accidental Revolutionary.
Mr. Torvalds: The title was for fun. It was meant to be read for fun, and it was written as a fun project.

CNBC: A viewer question, what is the meaning of life, anyway?
Mr. Torvalds: The book goes into that in a not very serious way. I think life is about having fun.

CNBC: What do you see as the ultimate goal for Linux?
Mr. Torvalds: I donit have any goals for Linux, per se. I gave personal goals for it, like technology goals. I want the kernel to have the best technologies. My personal goals have been to make Linux usable for myself. All the contributions from around the world have added even more, and it has resulted in a very fluid system.

CNBC: How much of the love of that system has been just (or as a result of) a dislike of MS?
Mr. Torvalds: I donit think the dislike of MS is primary to any degree. Many people like the technology [of Linux], like being able to delve into the system. There are a lot of social issues involved too.

CNBC: Was the goal to have Linux installed on most laptops and desktops in the world?.
Mr. Torvalds: Itis not my personal goal, but there are some people who want that. I think it is possible.

Again, this was a rough transcript. If you caught the CNBC interview and can add to the transcript, please let us know.