AWB Chapter 58 Recruiting the Founder of Linux
Chapter 58 Recruiting the Founder of Linux
In a private booth at a café known for its privacy, Lingyun met Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel. At that time, Linus still had a somewhat student-like casualness, wearing a casual T-shirt, but his eyes already revealed the focus and stubbornness unique to technical masters.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lingyun got straight to the point, expressing his appreciation for Linux and his desire to participate more deeply in its development, even subtly hinting at the possibility of acquisition.
"Mr. Ling, thank you for your appreciation." Linus shook his head, his tone gentle yet exceptionally firm. "But Linux doesn't belong to any individual or company. It should be open and free. Its power comes from the collective wisdom of tens of thousands of developers worldwide. I don't want it to be bound by any commercial entity, nor do I want it to be restricted by any race, politics, or region. It should belong to all humanity, just like science."
His words carried the pure light of an idealist. If Lingyun hadn't been reborn and learned about some of the political controversies surrounding the open-source community in the future (including certain events later on), he would almost have been moved by this sentiment.
"I understand and respect your vision, Linus." Ling Yun didn't press the matter, but changed the subject, "Precisely because it's so important, I hope it can become even stronger. Please allow me, from the perspective of a technology enthusiast and a future observer, to share some thoughts on operating systems, especially on the future development of Linux."
Linus looked interested and gestured for Linus to speak.
Lingyun raised his coffee cup, organizing his thoughts, and began to explain, with a forward-looking perspective, some key technological highlights that were originally expected to appear in Linux kernel version 2.6 several years later:
"Linus, I believe the next stage of core competitiveness for operating systems lies in extreme high performance, scalability, and reliability." He put down his cup and sketched an architecture diagram on the table with his finger.
"First, there's the process scheduler." Ling Yun looked at Linus. "Current scheduling algorithms become efficiency bottlenecks when faced with a large number of concurrent processes. I'm thinking about the concept of an O(1) scheduler, where the time complexity of task switching is constant regardless of the number of run queues or processes in the system. This can greatly improve the server's responsiveness under high load."
Linus's relaxed expression froze slightly, and he unconsciously sat up straighter. O(1) Complexity? This concept is very advanced and directly addresses the core pain point of the current scheduler.
Lingyun didn't pause, continuing to introduce a new concept: "There's also kernel preemption. The existing kernel is non-preemptible in many situations, which leads to delays in real-time task response. If we could implement finer-grained kernel preemption, allowing higher-priority tasks to interrupt lower-priority kernel tasks that are currently executing, it would be revolutionary for applications requiring high real-time performance (such as industrial control and financial trading)."
"Real-time performance... kernel preemption..." Linus repeated softly, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. This was indeed a weakness of Linux compared to some commercial Unix systems at the time.
"Furthermore," Lingyun continued, "the virtual memory subsystem also holds great promise. I'm envisioning a reverse mapping mechanism that can more efficiently handle memory page reclamation and swapping, significantly reducing memory management overhead during large application runtimes. There's also support for NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) architectures; as multiprocessor servers evolve, operating systems must be able to intelligently perceive and handle differences in access latency across different memory nodes..."
He even mentioned the "prototype of the Ext4 file system," describing its superior support for large files and very large file systems, as well as its enhanced log reliability.
Every technical point Lingyun mentioned was like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples in Linus's mind. These ideas weren't just wild fantasies; they were logically sound, directly addressing the actual bottlenecks and evolutionary directions the Linux kernel would encounter in its future development. Linus himself might have vaguely sensed some of these concepts, but never with the clarity and systematic approach Lingyun was presenting.
The technological insight and foresight displayed by this young Eastern investor shocked Linus, even making him slightly uneasy. These ideas greatly inspired him, as if someone had illuminated the path of technological evolution for him in the coming years.
"Mr. Ling," Linus took a deep breath, his tone becoming exceptionally serious, "your ideas... are truly amazing, incredibly inspiring. They've given me so much... so much inspiration. I must admit, some of the directions you've outlined could very well be the future evolutionary path of Linux."
He looked at Ling Yun with a complex expression: "But this has only strengthened my belief—Linux must remain open source and community-driven. Only by relying on the wisdom of developers worldwide can such a complex and advanced technological concept be turned into reality step by step. To close it off is a step backward for technology."
The meeting ended in an atmosphere of mutual appreciation yet differing opinions. Linus left hastily, his mind brimming with new technological inspirations, eager to record and digest them.
Ling Yun sat alone in the coffee shop, slowly finishing his coffee, which had gone cold.
He understood that recruiting Linus and directly taking control of Linux was no longer a viable option. That technical genius had his own unwavering beliefs and principles.
"It seems that in the end, I still have to rely on myself," Ling Yun muttered to himself.
He wasn't too disappointed. Recruiting Linus was an experiment in itself. Since that path didn't work, they would try another—independent research and development.
In 1996, the operating system market landscape was still unsettled. While Windows 95 was dominant, it was not invincible; Linux was still in its infancy; and other Unix variants each had their own territories. Everything was in its early stages.
Ling Yun knew that building a mature operating system ecosystem from scratch was extremely difficult. However, his goal was not to defeat anyone head-on in the short term. What he wanted to do was to sow a seed and create a prototype of an operating system that was completely independent and controllable, based on future technological trends (such as the highlights he mentioned to Linus), and compatible with existing mainstream systems.
This will be his "backup plan" and "contingency plan". Even if it cannot gain a large market share in the open market, it can serve as a deep customization system for Spark Technology's future hardware products, becoming part of the technological barrier, and a strategic reserve to avoid being "strangled" in certain key areas.
Who will kill the deer is unknown.
Ling Yun paid the bill and left the coffee shop, the Silicon Valley sun shining on him. His meeting with Linus hadn't discouraged him; instead, it had clarified his next steps—while reaping huge profits in the capital markets, he must steadfastly build his own robust technological foundation.
He also wants to get his hands on the operating system, the jewel in the crown of the information industry.