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Linus Torvalds

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Linus Torvalds
Born (1969-12-28) December 28, 1969 (age 54)
Helsinki, Finland
NationalityFinnish
OccupationSoftware engineer
EmployerLinux Foundation
Known forLinux, Git
SpouseTove Torvalds
Parent(s)Nils Torvalds (father)
RelativesOle Torvalds (grandfather)
Websitewww.cs.helsinki.fi/u/torvalds/

Linus Benedict Torvalds (pronunciationⓘ; [ˈliːnɵs ˈtuːrvalds]; born December 28 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish software engineer best known for having initiated the development of the Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator.

Biography

Early years

Linus Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland, the son of journalists Anna and Nils Torvalds,[1] and the grandson of poet Ole Torvalds. His family belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority (5.5%) of Finland's population. Torvalds was named after Linus Pauling, the American Nobel Prize-winning chemist, although in the book Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, Torvalds is quoted as saying, "I think I was named equally for Linus the peanut-cartoon character," noting that this makes him half "Nobel-prize-winning chemist" and half "blanket-carrying cartoon character."[2] Both of his parents were campus radicals at the University of Helsinki in the 1960s.

Torvalds attended the University of Helsinki from 1988 to 1996, graduating with a master's degree in computer science. His M.Sc. thesis was titled Linux: A Portable Operating System. From 1997 to 1999 he was involved in 86open helping to choose the standard binary format for Linux and Unix.

His interest in computers began with a Commodore VIC-20.[3] After the VIC-20 he purchased a Sinclair QL which he modified extensively, especially its operating system. He programmed an assembler and a text editor for the QL, as well as a few games.[4] He is known to have written a Pac-Man clone named Cool Man. In 1990 he purchased an Intel 80386-based IBM PC and spent a few weeks playing the game Prince of Persia before receiving his MINIX copy which in turn enabled him to begin his work on Linux.[2]

Later years

Linus Torvalds is married to Tove Torvalds (née Monni) – a six-time Finnish national Karate champion – whom he first met in the autumn of 1993.[5] Torvalds was running introductory computer laboratory exercises for students and instructed the course attendants to send him an e-mail as a test, to which Tove responded with an e-mail asking for a date.[2] Tove and Linus were later married and have three daughters, Patricia, Daniela, and Celeste.[6]

After a visit to Transmeta in late 1996,[7] he accepted a position at the company in California, where he would work from February 1997 through June 2003. He then moved to the Open Source Development Labs, which has since merged with the Free Standards Group to become the Linux Foundation, under whose auspices he continues to work. In June 2004, Torvalds and his family moved to Portland, Oregon to be closer to the consortium's Beaverton, Oregon-based headquarters.

Red Hat and VA Linux, both leading developers of Linux-based software, presented Torvalds with stock options in gratitude for his creation.[8] In 1999, both companies went public and Torvalds' net worth shot up to roughly $20 million.[9][10]

His personal mascot is a penguin nicknamed Tux, which has been widely adopted by the Linux community as the mascot of the Linux kernel.

Unlike many open source icons, Torvalds maintains a low profile and generally refuses to comment on competing software products.[dubious – discuss] Torvalds generally stays out of non-kernel-related debates. Although Torvalds believes that "open source is the only right way to do software", he also has said that he uses the "best tool for the job", even if that includes proprietary software.[11] He has been criticized for his use and alleged advocacy of the proprietary BitKeeper software for version control in the Linux kernel. However, Torvalds has since written a free-software replacement for BitKeeper called Git. Torvalds has commented on official GNOME developmental mailing lists that, in terms of desktop environments, he encourages users to switch to KDE.[12][13]

The Linus/Linux connection

Main article: History of Linux

Initially Torvalds wanted to call the kernel he developed Freax (a combination of "free", "freak", and the letter X to indicate that it is a Unix-like system), but his friend Ari Lemmke, who administered the FTP server where the kernel was first hosted for downloading, named Torvalds' directory linux.

Authority on Linux

About 2% of the current Linux kernel is written by Torvalds himself.[6] Since Linux has had thousands of contributors, such a percentage represents a significant personal contribution to the overall amount of code. Torvalds remains the ultimate authority on what new code is incorporated into the standard Linux kernel.[14]

Linux trademark

Torvalds owns the "Linux" trademark, and monitors[15] use of it chiefly through the non-profit organization Linux International.

Recognition

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Torvalds, Linus (2001). Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-662073-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c Moody, Glyn (2002). Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution. Perseus Books Group. p. 336. ISBN 0738206709.
  3. ^ Just For Fun pages 6-7
  4. ^ Just For Fun pages 41-46
  5. ^ Just For Fun page 123
  6. ^ a b Torvalds' bio on nndb.com
  7. ^ Linux Online - Linus Torvalds Bio
  8. ^ Gumbel, Peter (2006). Tovalds%5d "Linus Torvalds: By giving away his software, the Finnish programmer earned a place in history". 60 Years of Heros. TIME. Retrieved 2008-06-14. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  9. ^ Rivlin, Gary. "Leader of the Free World". Wired. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
  10. ^ Linus Torvalds: A Very Brief and Completely Unauthorized Biography
  11. ^ Linus Torvalds at Google, on Git, 9:50-10:00
  12. ^ Printing dialog and GNOME
  13. ^ Linus versus GNOME
  14. ^ Henrik Ingo. Open Life: The Philosophy of Open Source. Ingram, 2005. 42-45. Online version
  15. ^ Linus Explains Linux Trademark Issues
  16. ^ Torvalds, Stallman, Simons Win 1998 Pioneer Awards
  17. ^ Talking to Torvalds, British Computer Society, September 2007.
  18. ^ The Person of the Century Poll Results
  19. ^ The Best & Worst Managers Of The Year
  20. ^ Linux creator Linus Torvalds honored with Reed College's Vollum Award
  21. ^ 10 people who don't matter
  22. ^ Linus Torvalds
  23. ^ "The Computer History Museum Announces the 2008 Fellow Awards Recipients". 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-06-20.

References

  • Himanen, Pekka (2001). The Hacker Ethic. Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-20550-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Wikiquote has quotations related to Linus Torvalds.
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