Linus Torvalds Says Google's Nexus One is a Winner

In a blog post on Saturday, Linus Torvalds, endorsed Google's Nexus One mobile phone.

"I have to admit, the Nexus One is a winner," Torvalds said.

He explained that he generally hates mobile phones, and he wasn't enthusiastic about buying a phone on the Internet sight unseen, but "the day it was reported that it finally had the pinch-to-zoom thing enabled, I decided to take the plunge," Torvalds said.

What turned him on to Google's Nexus One, besides that it runs Linux, was Google's navigation software.

"I've wanted to have a GPS unit for my car anyway," the creator of Linux said, "and I thought that Google navigation might finally make a phone useful."

ZDNet's Dana Blankenhorn thinks Torvald's Nexus One endorsement could be problematic.

"Trouble is, in many ways Linus Torvalds is not 'just a programmer,'" Blankenhorn said, "He's a brand name. He is, however reluctantly, a celebrity. So a simple blog post can read like an endorsement."

According to Blankenhorn, Torvalds' public pronouncement that the Nexus One is a winner, is akin to Steve Balmer picking a Windows Mobile phone and saying, "this is the one I like." Other mobile phone manufacturers, he said, would be upset and so Balmer doesn't do that what Torvalds just did.

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