Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds meet for the first time.
www.theverge.com
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, have surprisingly never met before. That all changed at a recent dinner hosted by Sysinternals creator Mark Russinovich. The worlds of Linux and Windows finally came together in real life, and Dave Cutler, Microsoft technical fellow and Windows NT lead developer, was also there to witness the moment and meet Torvalds for the first time. “No major kernel decisions were made,” jokes Russinovich in a post on LinkedIn. [Image: Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds meet for the first time. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/1750435121315.jpg?quality=90&strip=all]

Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds have apparently never met in person before, despite their pseudo-rivalry.

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.worldEnglish
    229·
    1 day ago

    Maybe I’m wrong, but isn’t Gates retired? And I have no idea if Torvalds is still active.

    But historical photo aside, isn’t this meeting a bunch of nothing?

    • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
      88·
      1 day ago

      Torvalds is still very active on the Linux kernel. As far as I know, he’s in charge of it and makes major decisions about its direction.

      Bill Gates retired from Microsoft in 2008.

      • PacMan@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        72·
        1 day ago

        Linus still approves the changes in the kernel. His main baby for the past 15 years or so has been GIT.

        • offspec@lemmy.worldEnglish
          10·
          24 hours ago

          I think he maintained git at its inception for like 6 months and then passed it off to someone else, but I could be completely mistaken.

    • chrash0@lemmy.worldEnglish
      25·
      1 day ago

      without checking, Gates’ wealth is probably tied up in a lot of MS stock, and he could probably walk into the office and ask the intern to get him a coffee. but yeah i think mostly retired.

      Linus is still active is maintaining the Linux kernel.

      and yes, this is fluff, not some kind of summit

      • _edge@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        22·
        1 day ago

        Gates could probably walk into most offices and get a free coffee and an impromptu meeting with the CEO if he wants to.

        • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          5·
          1 day ago

          True, if anything he has less of a chance of getting a coffee at the MS office because the coffee machines will be out of order… “Kindly I’m Sorry sirs its on windows”