Nine Funny Quotes about Free and Open Source Software

Open source programmers are celebrated for the software they create. But they don't often get the credit they deserve for one trait: Being funny. With that in mind, here's a list of some of the more entertaining statements made by members of the free and open source software community.

Here are the quotes, organized according to different free and open source software personalities.

Ken Thompson

"You can't trust code that you did not totally create yourself. (Especially code from companies that employ people like me.)" (Source.)

"When in doubt, use brute force." (Source.)

(I know: Thompson is not exactly a free and open source software programmer; he is a Unix programmer. But I think that still counts.)

Richard Stallman

"People sometimes ask me if it is a sin in the Church of Emacs to use vi. Using a free version of vi is not a sin; it is a penance. So happy hacking." Stallman was referring to the longstanding debate among free and open source software programmers about whether Emacs is a better text editor than vi. (Source.)

Linus Torvalds

"I am a lazy person, which is why I like open source, for other people to do work for me." (Source.)

"Software is like sex: it's better when it's free." (Source.)

"In short: just say NO TO DRUGS, and maybe you won't end up like the Hurd people." Hurd is the GNU operating system kernel, which never fully matured. (Source.)

Eric S. Raymond

Hackers "like confusing people who are stuffier and less mentally agile than we are, especially when they're bosses. There's a little bit of the mad scientist in all hackers, ready to discombobulate the world and flip authority the finger — especially if we can do it with snazzy special effects." (Source.)

Mitchell Baker

"The average consumer does not know the difference between browser, Internet and search box." (Source.)

An Anonymous Slashdot User

This is one of my favorite quotes about free and open source software. It was made in response to Richard Stallman's comments on the open-sourcing of the Qt programming library in 2000:

"Oh what a wicked generation of thieves and harlots. Repent now, and be saved. Accept the One True Way(tm).

"Blessed are they who walk among the gnomes, for they will be Free(tm).

"Blessed are those [who] change their licenses, for they will be forgiven.

"Blessed are those who assign copyright to the FSF, for they will inherit the Kingdom of GNU(tm).

"If you truly be followers of RMS, you must daily take up your soapbox and follow him."

(Source.)