I loved reading about Linus's forays into (relative) popularity and high technological society. Through it all, I was impressed with his tenacity and adherence to his beliefs. The man knows what he wants to do, how he wants to do it, and what kind of people he wants to be around, and I respect it.
Linus does not seem interested in the business or marketing side of Linux, which I empathize with. My corporate practice minor makes it clear just how important understanding the backbone of a business is, but I've found that I would rather ignore it if I can. To his luck, open source came to the rescue. It's very funny to me that open source can extend beyond technological needs; when early Linux needed someone hype it up to the press and do public relationships, folks interested in that kind of stuff stepped up (like Lars). It shows the strength of the ideology--people within the community can fill whatever roll they're passionate about, and others will inevitably fill the ones that they're not.
It also cracked me up to read about Linus's first interactions with Steve Jobs. Steve seemed single-minded; he wanted market share for the Mac, and he figured that everyone else was after the same thing. Linux, however, was on a very different path. Linus was in the business of making excellent software, not competing (or yielding) to Apple.
I had never heard about the contested trademark, but it checks out that the open source computer scientists would totally forget about copyrighting their stuff. It's a typical story in the buffoonery of corporate bureaucracy, but what stood out to me is Linus's indifference to the whole thing. It could be bias from the writer--I have a hard time believing that he doesn't know the terms of the agreement that placed the trademark into his hands. It's a big deal, and I wonder if he'd be so indifferent if it hadn't ended up in his favor.
A king knows the importance of sleep. A king separates his job and hobby. A king treats his family right (some stories from the book have me doubting this one was fulfilled). Overall though, I respect Linus's commitment to healthy habits. I had no idea that he worked for a hardware emulation company during Linux's transformative years. It sounds very random on paper. His explanation makes a lot of sense:
"I could continue to do Linux, but I didn't feel I would have to make the technical compromises that would favor the company's goals over Linux itself. I could continue to think of Linux as a hobby."
By picking a job that was something other than "Linux Chief Developer" for XYZ, Linus was able to keep his passion alive. Perhaps more importantly, he kept his community from being overshadowed by another. He didn't have to compromise his (or others') work for the sake of a job. It's comforting to hear that your job can be separate from your passion projects. Even if I end up working somewhere that's not my main area of interest, I can thrive in that separation.
Also, sleep is wonderful. It makes you more productive across fewer hours. We all ought to sleep more.