The Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate is a debate between Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Linus Torvalds, regarding Linux and kernel architecture in general. Tanenbaum began the debate in 1992 on the Usenet discussion group comp.os.minix, arguing that microkernels are superior to monolithic kernels and therefore Linux was, even in 1992, obsolete. Other notable hackers such as David S. Miller and Theodore Ts'o joined the debate.
The debate has sometimes been cons...
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The Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate is a debate between Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Linus Torvalds, regarding Linux and kernel architecture in general. Tanenbaum began the debate in 1992 on the Usenet discussion group comp.os.minix, arguing that microkernels are superior to monolithic kernels and therefore Linux was, even in 1992, obsolete. Other notable hackers such as David S. Miller and Theodore Ts'o joined the debate.
The debate has sometimes been considered a flame war.
This subject was revisited in 2006 after Tanenbaum wrote a cover story for Computer magazine titled “Can We Make Operating Systems Reliable and Secure?” While Tanenbaum himself has mentioned that he did not write the article to renew the debate on kernel design, the juxtaposition of the article and an archived copy of the 1992 debate on the technology site Slashdot caused the subject to be rekindled. Torvalds posted a rebuttal of Tanenbaum's arguments via an online discussion forum, and several technology news sites began...
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