[amelius]

He was far above the bar. From Wikipedia:

> In 1997, Torvalds received his master's degree (Laudatur Grade) from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki.

Also surprising to see that he didn't pursue a Ph.D., although he does have a doctor status:

> Two years later he received honorary doctor status at Stockholm University, and in 2000, he received the same honor from his alma mater.

Anyway, I'd like to see the theses of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

[tpmx]

Let's attempt to keep two conflicting thoughts in our heads at the same time:

1) Linus is fantastic. We owe him so much! He has changed computing in a very forceful and persistent way - people will rightfully remember him long after we're all gone - along with dmr and ken, of course.

2) Stockholm University didn't even have a computer science education at the time (I think) (in Stockholm, this was only offered by KTH, The Royal Institute of Technology). Either way, KTH is far more prestigious in this area.

Because of that Stockholm University made him an honorary doctor in Mathematics: https://www.math.su.se/english/about-us/prizes-awards (!)

In my opinion: this particular honorific event was just a result of trying to get a famous name, sort of how like the frankly speaking pathetic Nobel Peace Prize committee in Oslo keeps trying to meet famous people. (Like Obama, before he had even entered office.) It's embarassing to everyone involved.

[syncsynchalt]

> I'd like to see the theses of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

It's not what you were asking for but here's Buzz Aldrin's doctoral thesis on manned orbital rendezvous: https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/12652

[vojta_letal]

Cool. I'd expect him to get the Ph.d. in like 20 years after graduation, not two. That's significant.

[ses1984]

Honorary doctor is not the same thing as a PhD.