Quoting:On one side, you have Linus Torvalds and his true Linux "geekerati" underlings. These guys are mostly concerned with promoting Linux within the enterprise - i.e. Projects involving lots of parallel CPUs, massive storage and high-end TPC results. On the other side you have guys like Con who made it their mission to bring Linux on par with Windows and Mac OS X in the desktop arena. Things like smooth playback of digital content and better memory management for interactive users are what fuel their inner Linux fires.

Con stood out from this crowd because he did more than just complain about the jittery video and sluggish virtual memory behavior of Linux. He actually went out and wrote patches for the Linux kernel that helped address these issues, for example, by altering the core scheduling algorithms to favor interactive tasks (like audio or video playback). These patches proved to be real lifesavers for users seeking a better desktop experience under Linux, and Con quickly gained a strong following within this particular sub-community.