Talk:List of software moguls
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How should "mogul" be interpreted here? The text starting this list reads "Software Moguls made their fortune from software", but a mogul doesn't necessarily have a fortune, being "a great personage; magnate", which is itself defined as "a person of rank, power, influence, or distinction often in a specified area" (Merriam-Webster Online).
I raise this point because I added Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, both of whom are billionaires who have considerable power and influence in the software industry in which they made their fortunes. I wonder, however, if Richard Stallman or Linus Torvalds, both of whom have undeniable top rank, power, AND distinction in the software industry, have a fortune. Based on the definition of "mogul", I'd agree that they belong on this list, but that "fortune" thing suggests to me that others (including the list creator) may not agree.
Comments, anyone?
Jeff Q 13:52, 23 Mar 2004 (UTC)
My mistake. I added rms and Linus. I should have changed intro to reflect these additions. I think that sooner or later, the title alone decides of the content, not the intent of the creator. Do you agree?
Delta G 18:20, 23 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- I would have to agree. I've been contributing to several interesting song lists, and I've read that the first entry of List of songs whose title does not appear in the lyrics was "Bohemian Rhapsody", a song for which I myself might have created this list. But subsequent contributions came up with so many songs that seemed to have little or no direct connection to their lyrics that eventually it was "decided" that descriptive titles were not eligible, and so the original entry was removed. But I found the resulting list even more interesting for the shift.
- I think your List of software moguls is made more useful by the focus on influence and notoriety rather than on wealth. I'm debating whether to remove Ballmer and Allen at this point, since, Allen is more of a philanthropist these days, and Ballmer remains in the shadow of Gates, although I think this is changing. But neither is an Ellison, Torvalds, or Stallman, IMHO.
- I look forward to more additions in the future (and I may contribute some myself). -- Jeff Q 18:22, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)
