My personal opinion: People should vote for whomever they think has made the most positive impact this year to the Linux/OpenSource Community. While I respect Mr. Volkerding for his work on Slackware, with Slackware not having a release this year and no software released from him for use by the larger ecosystem his impact is near zero to the Linux/Open Source community.
I personally voted for Gabe Newell, he has made the most positive impact for me this year.

3 members found this post helpful.

PV also got my vote. I thought about voting for Theo. I use Slackware on 4/5 of my boxes.

It doesn't surprise me at all, not that i think they deserve it because i don't.
SystemD has many followers that want it in linux an they will vote on Lennart no matter what.
Sarah is the one i think will win, just wait until it goes viral on twitter and feminist forums then all feminist will vote for sarah even if they know nothing about linux, most probably doesn't even know that their android phone runs linux.
I voted for Pat because he is the only one that keeps linux to what it should be and keep pulse audio and systemd out

5 members found this post helpful.

[edit]

Hi,
While you have every right to vote as you wish but my reasons for PV are based on twenty years of contribution and on going with 'Slackware -current' ; http://futurist.se/gldt/wp-content/u...0/gldt1110.png

I think that the zoom-able timeline link above shows how PV has contributed over that time frame. Look at all the branches off Slackware!
Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

6 members found this post helpful.

That's Time's criterion for "person of the year". It might be the criterion here too.

I would have expected Redhat astrotufing to put forward someone involved with Docker.

Personally? My nominations would have gone to Thiago de Arruda (whose Neovim project got its first stable release this year) and Natosha Bard (the most visible figure behind Unity3D's Linux support). Maybe someone behind Vulkan too.

The vote is for "Person of The Year 2015 in the Linux/OpenSource Community", not "Person of The Years 1993-2015 in the Linux/OpenSource Community", but to each his own, if you think that poll should be skewed towards Mr. Volkerding just beacuse he has made impact in the years before 2015 then vote for him.

2 members found this post helpful.

The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.

1 members found this post helpful.

That may be logically correct but even - in the unlikely event - that Patrick merely twiddled his thumbs for the entire year of 2015, as a Slackware fan, I would have difficulty voting for anybody else.

4 members found this post helpful.

Hi,
I believe PV's continued support over the years and this year does show he deserves recognition.

I did vote for PV and that is the reasoning for my initial post within this thread on the Slackware forum. Continued support/vision should be part of the weight on a vote.

Just because someone introduces 'systemd' to Linux should not be special in my views for a vote. Just look how PV & team are evolving Slackware to keep systemd out. Improvement & innovations! Thankfully sane to keep systemd out period.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

2 members found this post helpful.

Just putting my in:

I, too, was appalled at seeing who got the most votes. If that sludge of an init system he created is the criteria for his popularity, then we in the Linux community have our heads in our rears. Same goes for Sarah Sharp. Linus has made no secret of his seeming harshness, but it's directed at bad code that people write, not their characters. Seems that some people have confused their deeds with who they are. An attack on the former does not constitute an attack on the latter.

As far as my vote went, I of course voted for PV. Despite some people's negative comments on his perceived contributions to the community (or lack thereof), I don't believe for one minute that he's been slacking (no pun intended) off.

2 members found this post helpful.

Pat ---> #1

As the header explaining the nature of the vote reads thusly.....

It seems to me it is not about how much work candidates have contributed that was initiated in 2015 by them, but rather what work have they accomplished that servers YOU in 2015, regardless of when the work was initiated or completed.

I actually had some difficulty voting because I m so very pleased that Linus has remained firm against such an overwhelming onslaught of pressure and influences, and Gabe Newell for basically "putting his money where his mouth is" to increase the functionality of Linux and powerfully counter the Microsoft monopoly, but when I read again

" Maybe you use everyday several products from these peoples "

The choice was entirely obvious. I voted for Patrick Volkerding and would have loved an option for Special Commendation for Eric Hameleer.

5 members found this post helpful.

I voted for Patrick because Slackware has indeed made much progress in 2015. The fact that it hasn't been released as "stable" yet doesn't erase the progress. All of that will be part of the next release. People are using the current version without major problems.

Those who quietly go about their work without a lot of press and fanfare get much more of my respect. They are the people who have always been making Linux distros better and will continue doing so long after the spotlight has moved on.

4 members found this post helpful.

Patrick is great and friendly.
He also personally answer,help and assist in some cases in that forum.
And slackware too is great.
And AlienBob too. - with it help there, information about who goes on "inside" of slackware, and also his repository, and
multilibs!

there is a lot of good and helpful people also, sure, in this forum, and i get a lot of help there, and want to say "thank you very much" for all those good people, but that two - Pat and Eric - i want to put in another level.
sadly, that site not agree to put AlienBob on this list too, as i vote for PV.
On another side Linus too not bad candidature.
Stallman is epic, but too fanatic, imho.