Alan Kay on Linux

Jack · 19.7K views · 2014-04-08 · 0:38

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A one-minute clip of Alan Kay giving his blunt critique of Linux and the Unix approach.

On Hacker News

HN uses it as a quick citation of Alan Kay's dislike of Linux, in threads questioning whether the Unix way is the final word.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2018–2026

Topics

Tech pioneers & interviews Linux & open-source ecosystems Operating systems & kernels

What people said

morphle · 2026-04 · Reference
Apple had real Unix a decade before the Linux crap was made, a bad unix copy. Nextstep was much better than Linux crap. "A budget of bad ideas" is what Alan Kay said about Linux [1], he invented the personal computer. My 1987-1997 ISP was based on several different Unix running on Apple, probably long before you where born. Apple built several supercomputers. [1] [VIDEO] [2] Founder School Session: The Future Doesn't Have to Be Incremental [LINK]
Read the original HN comment ↗

georgewsinger · 2022-08 · Reference
This reminds me that Alan Kay really hates Linux: [VIDEO] This stings since I really like Alan Kay and have been influenced by his ideas, but am also working on a Linux-based VR headset as a thinking tool[1]. I think Alan would approve of the hardware but not the software, perhaps ultimately saying something like "you can spend your whole life dicking around in Linux, but still not understand anything about computing". [1] [LINK]
Read the original HN comment ↗

NotUsingLinux · 2020-05 · Reference
I guess this is not the place to discuss about how to change all of computing and how it should be done better and that Linux is a distraction? [VIDEO]
Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Jack, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks

SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources