Linus Torvalds

Linus Torvalds is the creator of the Linux operating system kernel. A kernel is the central part of all major operating systems, which manages the system resources of a computer. Most of the Linux kernel is still written by Torvalds and he remains the ultimate authority on what appears in the Linux operating system. Torvalds currently works for The Linux Foundation. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Tove and three daughters.

Torvalds attended University of Helsinki, where he majored in Computer Science. Torvalds thoughts for developing the Linux operating system came while he was writing his thesis for the University of Helsinki. After graduating, he was a major contributor to 86open, which helped form a common binary file format for Unix-based operating systems for the x86 architecture.

When Torvalds first began writing the operating system, he intended on calling the kernel, "Freakx". However, the project was renamed when one of his friends named the FTP directory where they were compiling the code "Linux". Torvalds posted a message on Usenet in August, 1991, inviting the public to help him write the operating system. The first release came a few months later, September, 1991, with version 0.01.

The mascot of the Linux operating system is a penguin named Tux due to Torvalds fascination with penguins.

Linus Torvalds met his wife, Tove Torvalds, after being asked out on a date in the fall of 1993, during a computer laboratory exercise. They later married and had three children, all daughters, Patricia, Daniela, and Celeste.

• Current Projects
  • Project Coordinator, Linux kernel

• Past Projects
  • Student, University of Helsinki
  • Contributor, 86open

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