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Torvalds: geeky kids need dates

Asked how to end virus and worm attacks, Linux creator Linus Torvalds told
an interviewer: "When you have people who hook up these machines that
weren't designed for the Internet, and they don't even want to know about
all the intricacies of network security, what can you expect? We get what we
have now: a system that can be brought down by a teenager with too much time
on his hands. Should we blame the teenager? Sure, we can point the finger at
him and say, 'Bad boy!' and slap him for it. Will that actually fix
anything? No. The next geeky kid frustrated about not getting a date on
Saturday night will come along and do the same thing without really
understanding the consequences. So either we should make it a law that all
geeks have dates -- I'd have supported such a law when I was a teenager --
or the blame is really on the companies who sell and install the systems
that are quite that fragile." [*The New York Times Magazine*, 28 Sep 2003;
NewsScan Daily, 29 Sep 2003]