Linus Torvalds for the Nobel Prize in Peace or Economic Sciences

Saurabh Gupta
Jul 24, 2017 · 3 min read

It should be obvious, but let me sketch it out.

My interest in this theme started after I heard this podcast on “How to Win a Nobel Prize” on Freakonomics Radio. In the interview, Steven Levitt (the host) and Per Stromberg (a member of the committee that awards the prize) discuss how the Committee selects the award recipients:

  1. Quoting Levitt from the transcript: “Keep in mind that although the prize is awarded to individuals — often more than one individual per year — it’s usually the work itself, the breakthrough idea, that’s actually being rewarded.”
  2. Quoting Stromberg from the interview: “We, by necessity will have to see more evidence of the long-lasting impact before we can give the prize.
  3. Quoting Levitt from the transcript: “And, so it’s interesting, because ideas are hard to come by, and ideas are often so obvious ex-post that when you summarize them in one sentence for the public, you wonder how in the world this guy could have gotten a Nobel Prize for it. But the details are often the hard part.”

So, to summarize, the overall characteristics of a winning nominee are: 1) breakthrough idea, 2) long lasting impact, and 3) “obviousness” in that you can’t imagine life any other way.

Linus Torvalds, by giving the world the Linux operating system, has substantially met and exceeded all the above criteria. Modern civilization rests on Linux. Trillions of dollars of commerce (and economics) rest on Linux. Millions of peoples’ livelihoods rest on Linux. The acceptance of sharing as a legitimate business model rests on Linux. Open source is now the de-facto standard for information systems that deal with critical business, government, and security processes. It is inconceivable that one may not know the type of code and its vulnerabilities that underpin important systems.

Open Source is the breakthrough idea here.

The deep and pervasive impact of open source in general, and the Linux operating system in particular, are material. Assigning a exact economic value to this idea is nearly impossible. The Linux operating system, its community approach towards open and transparent stewardship of critical technical capability, and the pervasiveness of the Linux kernel in almost every modern device speak to the impact of the Linux model. The revolutions brought about by social media rest upon the constructs enabled by Linux: smart phones and cloud computing, neither of which would be possible without the underpinning economics of a free and open source operating system that makes these large scale systems feasible to build and operate.

Revolution of everyday life is the long lasting impact here.

The hyper-connected world that exists today is taken for granted by those who live in it. That smart phones should exist, that data is summonable by anyone, anywhere, at any time, is “obvious”. This connectivity is so “obvious” and ubiquitous that it is being considered a fundamental human right.

The ubiquity and democratization of information, and the legitimacy of Open Source, is the “obviousness” of the idea.

On all three counts: breakthrough, impact, and “obviousness”, the contributions of Linux, and its creator and “sage” Linus Torvalds, have contributed immeasurably to human progress on the planet (and even outside of it!)

So here’s a humble request to those who are in a position to nominate individuals for the prize: Please consider Linus Torvalds for the Economics (or Peace) award.

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