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Poor Linus Torvalds. All that kernel work and what does he get in return? Four random people running around the Internet impersonating him for nearly a month. In attempts to throw people off the track, the Fake Linus Torvaldses (Torvaldii?) used Twitter and identi.ca to talk about everything from recoding the Linux kernel in Ruby to tattoo removal. Some bloggers even attempted to find out which people were behind the masks by peppering the FLTs with questions designed to draw out their true identities.
LinuxCon got underway today and shortly after the real Linus Torvalds concluded a panel on the Linux kernel, the impostors were revealed. Event organizers also announced which FLT garnered the most votes for crowd favorite.
And the winner is:
If you've been paying attention on Twitter and Identi.ca, lately then you've no doubt had a few laughs over the hilarious and sometimes slightly (okay, really) offbeat status updates from FakeLinusTorvalds. As Kristin wrote recently, four different people have gone incognito to impersonate the real Linus Torvalds -- with his blessing, of course -- to poke some good natured fun at one of the community's most respected people.
Now it's time to decide who has done the best masquerade job before their true identities are revealed at LinuxCon later this month. Voting starts today so get ready to cast yours here and help decide who gets to take home a Silver Penguin Award. You'll even get a chance to win free admission to the conference just by voting for your favorite FLT.
The Linux Foundation's executive director, Jim Zemlin, re-examined and updated the notion that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. He writes that now it seems more like ubiquity and recognition naturally produce knock offs. This is very true. I get lots of spam for genuine designer watches, medication for body parts I don't even have, and I don't really think that Willie Nelson, P. Diddy (or any variation thereof), or God are truly following me on Twitter. Further evidence to support this theory is that my identity hasn't yet been stolen (nor apparently am I able to give it away).
So it only stands to reason there'd be a Fake Linus Torvalds -- or four. Who are FLT1-4? Are they simply fragments of Real Linus Torvalds -- his id, his evil absorbed twin, his possessed coding hand? Is there anyone out there who can verify there isn't a provocative photo of Mark Shuttleworth over Torvalds' desk? The Linux Foundation says all will be revealed at LinuxCon.
Computerworld reported today that the Linux Foundation plans to add another conference to its events repertoire -- LinuxCon.
LinuxCon is targeting both developers and users, and will ideally foster new lines of communication between these two groups. Unlike some past Linux Foundation events, which were invitation only, this conference will be open to anyone who wishes to attend.
