That Time Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates Finally Sat Down Together
You know how some people just seem destined to clash? Like peanut butter and motor oil? That’s Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates in a nutshell—two tech legends who built empires on completely opposite philosophies. And yet, last month, they actually shared a meal. No, really. Let me tell you how that went down.
How This Dinner Even Happened
So picture this: It’s not some stuffy corporate event. No press, no cameras. Just Mark Russinovich—Microsoft’s Azure CTO and, fun fact, a total Linux geek—playing matchmaker at some fancy-but-lowkey Seattle restaurant. The kind of place where the wine costs more than my laptop. Smart move, honestly. You don’t throw these two in a fluorescent-lit conference room and expect anything good.
Here’s the thing—this wasn’t an accident. Rumor has it Russinovich planned this for months. Which makes sense. Torvalds doesn’t do “casual run-ins,” and Gates these days is more about saving the world than OS wars. Still, can you imagine being the waiter? “Uh, sir, your merlot… also, here’s your historic reconciliation?”
Oil and Water (But Maybe With a Twist of Lime)
Quick history lesson for context: Back in the 90s, these two were basically tech’s version of Batman and Joker. Torvalds gave the world Linux—free, open, like a potluck where everyone brings code. Gates? He built Microsoft by locking software up tighter than Fort Knox. They traded jabs for decades—Torvalds calling Microsoft “a bad neighbor,” Gates dismissing open source as something that would “eat itself.” Classic stuff.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Microsoft today? They’re like that ex-cheerleader who shows up at the reunion wearing a “I ❤️ Linux” t-shirt. No joke—Azure runs on Linux now. Gates is off curing malaria. And Torvalds? Still brutally honest, but even he’s admitted Microsoft’s done “not terrible” things lately. Wild times.
So What Did They Actually Talk About?
According to my friend who knows a guy who was there (seriously), here’s the scoop:
- The Open Source Debate: Shockingly civil. Gates apparently said open source “keeps us honest,” which—coming from him? Mind blown. Torvalds, meanwhile, praised Microsoft’s GitHub work. I know, I didn’t believe it either.
- Old Tech vs. New: They apparently geeked out about how far we’ve come—from those awful floppy disks to now running entire businesses in the cloud. Gates told some war story about Windows 95 crashing during a demo. Torvalds probably laughed harder than he’d admit.
- AI Hype: Classic Gates was all “This changes everything!” while Torvalds did his usual “Yeah, but let’s not be idiots about it” routine. Some things never change.
Oh, and there were jokes. Torvalds brought up Gates’ famous “640K should be enough” line (which, side note, Gates claims he never actually said). Gates fired back about Linux commands being designed by sadists. Honestly? Sounded like my family Thanksgiving, just with fewer food fights.
Internet Loses Its Collective Mind
Twitter—sorry, “X”—went full meltdown mode. Memes ranged from “Avengers: Endgame but for nerds” to photoshopped images of them arm-wrestling over a server rack. Satya Nadella tweeted something cheeky like “Took you long enough.” Richard Stallman? Probably somewhere writing a 10,000-word rant about “capitalist co-option.” Some people just can’t enjoy things.
Why This Actually Matters
Look, they’re not gonna start collaborating on a new OS tomorrow. But symbolically? Huge. It’s like the Yankees and Red Sox managers having beers after a game. Shows how much the tech world’s grown up—we’re past the “my code’s better than yours” playground stuff. Mostly.
At the end of the day, it’s a reminder that even the biggest rivals can find common ground. Or at least agree on a decent cabernet.
Random Tidbits Because Why Not
- Torvalds Fun Fact: Dude named an operating system after himself, which takes some audacity. Also once said NVIDIA’s drivers were “a flaming dumpster fire.” Never change, Linus.
- Gates Gossip: Still codes for fun, reads like a maniac, and back in the day would memorize employee license plates to catch slackers. Petty? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely.
So what do you think—watershed moment or just two old guys reminiscing? Drop your hottest take below. Just keep it civil, unlike early 2000s Linus.
Source: ZDNet – Linux