(2007-05-03), Tech Talk: Linus Torvalds on git
“
If you have ever done any security work – and it did not involve the concept of "network of trust" – it wasn't security work, it was – masturbation. I don't know what you were doing. But trust me, it's the only way you can do security, it's the only way you can do development.
— Linus Torvalds
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "If you have ever done any security work – and it did not involve the concept of "network of trust" – it wasn't security work, it was – masturbation. I don't know what you were doing. But trust me, it's the only way you can do security, it's the only way you can do development." in the context of "(2007-05-03), Tech Talk: Linus Torvalds on git" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Linus Torvalds" (Quotes, 2000s, 2007)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds (born 28 December 1969) is a Finnish-American computer programmer, best known as the creator of the Linux kernel.
About Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds (born 28 December 1969) is a Finnish-American computer programmer, best known as the creator of the Linux kernel.
View all quotes →