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Linus Torvalds

Finnish-American engineer who created the Linux kernel and the Git version control system.

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Linus Torvalds

via Wikipedia: Linus Torvalds · see source

Linus Torvalds created the Linux kernel, an open source operating system that became widely used.[1] He was born in Helsinki, Finland on 28 December 1969 to journalist parents.[2][3] Linus Torvalds' spouse is Tove Torvalds, who achieved the status of Finnish national karate champion on six occasions.[4]

Last updated 2026-10-07 from the source article.

Life and work

Torvalds initially wanted to name the kernel Freax, but his friend Ari Lemmke named the directory linux.[5] He switched the kernel's license to the GNU General Public License version 2 after hearing Richard Stallman speak.[6] Torvalds worked at Transmeta from February 1997 to June 2003.[7] He then moved to Oregon in 2004 to work for the Open Source Development Labs.[8]

He began developing Subsurface, open source scuba dive logging software, in late 2011.[9][10] When he was 11 years old, in 1981, Torvalds first became interested in computing after encountering a VIC-20.[11] Torvalds bought an IBM PC clone with an Intel 80386 processor on 5 January 1991, which allowed him to start developing Linux.[12] During the latter part of 1991, the initial Linux prototypes were made available to the public via an FTP server located at his university.[13]

Torvalds acquired United States citizenship in 2010.[14]

What the cited sources add

In a 1999 interview, Torvalds described himself as "completely a-religious—atheist"[3] He stated that he finds religion detracts from both morals and appreciation of nature.[3][15] Torvalds said in the same interview that he is "absolutely uninterested in politics"[3] In 2012 at Aalto University, Torvalds called Nvidia "the single worst company we’ve ever dealt with" and said "fuck you" to the company.[16]

In September 2018, Torvalds apologized for past personal attacks and announced a break from kernel work to get assistance on understanding emotions.[17][18]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Technology Academy Finland – Stem cell pioneer and open source software engineer are 2012 Millennium Technology Prize laureates", Technologyacademy.fi, 19 April 2012; "Computer-Pioneer-Award"; "List of IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award recipients", IEEE, 3 April 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Torvalds (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Richardson, "Interview: Linus Torvalds", Linux Journal, 1 November 1999. facts only, no text reused. linuxjournal.com
  4. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moody, "Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution", Perseus Books Group, 2002, p. 336; Rogoway, "Linus Torvalds, already an Oregonian, now a U.S. citizen", The Oregonian, 14 September 2010; Torvalds, "index : kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git", Linux kernel; "Debian's reboot(2) man page" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moody, "The Greatest OS That (Never) Was" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wirzenius, "The early days of Linux", LWN.net (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Linux Online – Linus Torvalds Bio", Linux.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rogoway, "Linus Torvalds, Incognito Inventor", The Oregonian, 7 June 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Subsurface An open source divelog", subsurface-divelog.org; "License page on the Github for Subsurface", Github, 19 April 2022 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. "Subsurface An open source divelog", subsurface-divelog.org. facts only, no text reused. subsurface-divelog.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Torvalds, pp. 6–7 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The nightmare continues", Linux News, 5 January 1991; Torvalds, p. 60 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moody, "Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution", Perseus Books Group, 2002, p. 336; Torvalds, "What would you like to see most in minix?", 25 August 1991; "Kernel 1.0 Source Code Release" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rogoway, "Linus Torvalds, already an Oregonian, now a U.S. citizen", The Oregonian, 14 September 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Richardson, "Interview: Linus Torvalds", Linux Journal, 1 November 1999 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  16. Savov, "Linus Torvalds: 'fuck you, Nvidia' for not supporting Linux", The Verge, 17 June 2012. facts only, no text reused. theverge.com
  17. Wikipedia, "Linus Torvalds" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Linux 4.19-rc4 released, an apology, and a maintainership note", 16 September 2018; Corbet, "Code, conflict, and conduct", LWN.net, 18 September 2018; Cohen, "After Years of Abusive E-mails, the Creator of Linux Steps Aside", 19 September 2018; Corbet, "The 4.19 kernel is out", LWN.net, 22 October 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  18. Corbet, "Code, conflict, and conduct", LWN.net, 18 September 2018. facts only, no text reused. lwn.net

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Linus Torvalds (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Linus Torvalds · Computer Scientists And Programmers

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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