Torvalds, Linus (2007-05-16), Torvalds tells Microsoft to put up or shut up, retrieved: 2016-01-18 Said about Microsoft's claim that the Linux kernel infringes upon 42 of their patents.

So the whole "We have a list and we're not telling you" should tell you something. Don't you think that if Microsoft actually had some really foolproof patent, they'd just tell us and go, "nyaah, nyaah, nyaah!"?

— Linus Torvalds

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "So the whole "We have a list and we're not telling you" should tell you something. Don't you think that if Microsoft actually had some really foolproof patent, they'd just tell us and go, "nyaah, nyaah, nyaah!"?" in the context of "Torvalds, Linus (2007-05-16), Torvalds tells Microsoft to put up or shut up, retrieved: 2016-01-18 Said about Microsoft's claim that the Linux kernel infringes upon 42 of their patents." 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
Linus Torvalds

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.