Linux Founder a "Happy Camper" With Google's Nexus One

Linus Torvalds wrote in a blog post

Torvalds declared on his personal blog that he "broke down and bought a Nexus One last week," and that the new device had made him a "happy camper." In the relatively brief post, he describes his general disdain for mobile phones ("they are irritating and disturb you as you work or read or whatever") and states that he owned the original G1 but "hardly ever used it" beyond playing Galaga and Solitaire during long flights.

Torvalds, however, admits he loves the concept of a mobile phone running Linux, so he decided to give the Nexus One a shot after learning that a recent software update had fixed the phone's pinch-to-zoom capability. And after a week of using the new smartphone, Torvalds is now raving about the Nexus One.

"[I] have to admit, the Nexus One is a winner," Torvalds wrote on his blog. "I no longer feel like I'm dragging a phone with me 'just in case' I would need to get in touch with somebody - now I'm having a useful (and admittedly pretty good-looking) gadget instead. The fact that you can use it as a phone too is kind of secondary."

In particular, Torvalds raves about the Nexus One's GPS capabilities with Google Navigation. However, Linux's creator doesn't discuss his impressions of the Android OS, which is built on the Linux kernel but runs applications on a Java layer called the Dalvik Virtual Machine. No doubt open-source software fans and Torvalds' followers are eagerly awaiting his hands-on impressions of the OS, as well as application development for the Nexus One.