Friday, November 26, 2010

Linus Torvalds

Linus Torvalds

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Linus Torvalds

Torvalds in 2002[1]
Born Linus Benedict Torvalds
December 28, 1969 (1969-12-28) (age 40)
Helsinki, Finland
Residence Portland, Oregon
Nationality Finnish American[2]
Occupation Software engineer
Employer Linux Foundation
Known for Linux kernel, Git
Spouse Tove Torvalds née Monni
Children 3
Parents Nils Torvalds (father)
Anna Torvalds (mother)[3]
Relatives Ole Torvalds (grandfather)
Website
torvalds-family.blogspot.com
cs.helsinki.fi/u/torvalds (outdated)
Linus Benedict Torvalds (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈliːnɵs ˈtuːrvalds]  ( listen); born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish [2][4] software engineer, best known for having initiated the development of the Linux kernel and the git revision control system. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator.

Contents

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[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland. He is the son of journalists Anna and Nils Torvalds,[5] and the grandson of poet Ole Torvalds. Both of his parents were campus radicals at the University of Helsinki in the 1960s. 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 Peanuts cartoon character", noting that this makes him half "Nobel-prize-winning chemist" and half "blanket-carrying cartoon character".[6]
Torvalds attended the University of Helsinki from 1988 to 1996, graduating with a master's degree in computer science from NODES research group.[7] His academic career was interrupted after his first year of study when he joined the Finnish Army, selecting the 11-month officer training program to fulfill the mandatory military service of Finland. In the army he holds the rank of second lieutenant, with the role of a ballistic calculation officer.[8] In 1990, he resumed his university studies, and was exposed to UNIX for the first time, in the form of a DEC MicroVAX running ULTRIX.[9] His M.Sc. thesis was titled Linux: A Portable Operating System.
His interest in computers began with a Commodore VIC-20.[10] After the VIC-20 he purchased a Sinclair QL, which he modified extensively, especially its operating system. He programmed an assembly language and a text editor for the QL, as well as a few games.[11] He is known to have written a Pac-Man clone named Cool Man. On January 5, 1991[12] he purchased an Intel 80386-based IBM PC[13] and spent a month playing the game Prince of Persia before receiving his MINIX copy, which in turn enabled him to begin work on Linux.[6][14]

[edit] Later years

After a visit to Transmeta in late 1996,[3] Torvalds 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 OSDL's Beaverton, Oregon–based headquarters.
From 1997 to 1999 he was involved in 86open helping to choose the standard binary format for Linux and Unix.
Red Hat and VA Linux, both leading developers of Linux-based software, presented Torvalds with stock options in gratitude for his creation.[15] In 1999, both companies went public and Torvalds' net worth shot up to roughly $20 million.[16][17]
His personal mascot is a penguin nicknamed Tux,[18] which has been widely adopted by the Linux community as the mascot of the Linux kernel.[19]
Although Torvalds believes "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.[20] He was criticized for his use and alleged advocacy of the proprietary BitKeeper software for version control in the Linux kernel. However, Torvalds subsequently wrote 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.[21][22] However, Torvalds thought KDE 4.0 was a "disaster" because of its lack of maturity, so he switched to GNOME.[23]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Authority and trademark

About 2% of the Linux kernel as of 2006 was written by Torvalds himself.[17] 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.[24]
Torvalds owns the "Linux" trademark, and monitors[25] use of it chiefly through the Linux Mark Institute.

[edit] Personal life

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.[26] 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.[6] Tove and Linus were later married and have three daughters, Patricia, Daniela, and Celeste,[27] two of whom were born in the United States.[4]
Torvalds describes himself as "completely a-religious — atheist", adding that "I find that people seem to think religion brings morals and appreciation of nature. I actually think it detracts from both. It gives people the excuse to say, 'Oh, nature was just created,' and so the act of creation is seen to be something miraculous. I appreciate the fact that, 'Wow, it's incredible that something like this could have happened in the first place.'" He later added that while in Europe religion is mostly a personal issue, in America it has become very politicized.[28]
Torvalds has registered to vote in the United States; he is unaffiliated with any U.S. political party, saying he has "way too much personal pride to want to be associated with any of them, quite frankly."[4]

[edit] Recognition

Academics
In 1997, Torvalds received his Master degree (Laudatur Grade) from Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki. Two years later he received honorary doctor status at Stockholm University, and in 2000 he received the same honor from his alma mater.[29]
In August 2005, Torvalds received the Vollum Award from Reed College.[30]
Industry
In 1998 Torvalds received an EFF Pioneer Award.[31] In 2000 he was awarded the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society.[32] In 2001, he shared the Takeda Award for Social/Economic Well-Being with Richard Stallman and Ken Sakamura. In 2008, he was inducted into the Hall of Fellows of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.[33][34] He was awarded the C&C Prize by the NEC Corporation in 2010 for "contributions to the advancement of the information technology industry, education, research, and the improvement of our lives".[35]
Media
Time magazine has recognized Torvalds multiple times:
InfoWorld presented him with the 2000 Award for Industry Achievement.[39] In 2005 Torvalds appeared as one of "the best managers" in a survey by BusinessWeek.[40] In 2006, Business 2.0 magazine named him one of "10 people who don't matter" because the growth of Linux has shrunk Torvalds' individual impact.[41]
In summer 2004, viewers of YLE (the Finnish Broadcasting Company) placed Torvalds 16th in the network's 100 Greatest Finns. In 2010, as part of a series called The Britannica Guide to the World's Most Influential People, Torvalds was listed among The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time (ISBN 9781615300037).[42]
Other

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ McMillan, Robert (December 2002). "The Great Dictator · Linus Torvalds: The Benevolent, Brilliant Keeper of the Kernel". FEATURES (Linux Magazine). Archived from the original on 2003-03-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20030304160629/http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-12/linus_01.html. Retrieved 2009-06-09. 
  2. ^ a b Citizen Linus, a September 13, 2010 post from LWN.net
  3. ^ a b "Linux Online - Linus Torvalds Bio". Linux.org. http://www.linux.org/info/linus.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  4. ^ a b c Mike Rogoway (September 14, 2010). "Linus Torvalds, already an Oregonian, now a U.S. citizen". The Oregonian. http://blog.oregonlive.com/siliconforest/2010/09/linus_torvalds_already_an_oreg.html. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
  5. ^ TORVALDS, 2001
  6. ^ a b c Moody, Glyn (2002). Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution. Perseus Books Group. p. 336. ISBN 0738206709. http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/perseus/book_detail_redirect.do?imprintCid=BA&isbn=0738206709. 
  7. ^ "NODES research group". Cs.helsinki.fi. 2008-10-16. http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/group/nodes/. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  8. ^ Torvalds, 2001, page 29
  9. ^ Torvalds, 2001, page 53
  10. ^ TORVALDS, 2001, pages 6-7
  11. ^ TORVALDS, 2001, pages 41-46
  12. ^ "L i n u x N e w s". Abc.se. 1991-01-05. http://www.abc.se/~m9339/linux/linuxdoc/linuxnews03a.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  13. ^ Torvalds, 2001, page 60
  14. ^ Linus Benedict Torvalds (25 August 91 20:57:08 GMT). "What would you like to see most in minix?". comp.os.minix. (Web link). Retrieved on 2010-11-26. "I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones."
  15. ^ Gumbel, Peter (2006-11-13). "Linus Torvalds: By giving away his software, the Finnish programmer earned a place in history". 60 Years of Heros (TIME). http://www.time.com/time/europe/hero2006/torvalds.html. Retrieved 2008-06-14. 
  16. ^ Rivlin, Gary. "Leader of the Free World". Wired. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.11/linus_pr.html. Retrieved 2008-06-14. 
  17. ^ a b "Linus Torvalds: A Very Brief and Completely Unauthorized Biography". The Linux Information Project. Bellevue Linux Users Group. 24 January 2006. http://www.linfo.org/linus.html. Retrieved 22 October 2010. 
  18. ^ Re: Linux Logo prototype., a Thu, 9 May 1996 message from Linus Torvalds (torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi)
  19. ^ Why a Penguin? from Linux Online
  20. ^ Linus Torvalds at Google, on Git, 9:50-10:00
  21. ^ "Printing dialog and GNOME". Mail.gnome.org. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2005-December/msg00021.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  22. ^ "Linus versus GNOME". Desktoplinux.com. 2007-02-23. http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS8745257437.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  23. ^ "it was a half-baked release (...) I'll revisit it when I reinstall the next machine"Q&A: Linux founder Linus Torvalds talks about open-source identity
  24. ^ Henrik Ingo. Open Life: The Philosophy of Open Source. Ingram, 2005. 42-45. Online version
  25. ^ "Linus Explains Linux Trademark Issues". Slashdot.org. http://slashdot.org/linux/00/01/19/0828245.shtml. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  26. ^ TORVALDS, 2001, page 123
  27. ^ "Torvalds' bio on". Nndb.com. http://www.nndb.com/people/444/000022378/. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  28. ^ Richardson, Marjorie (November 1, 1999). "Interview: Linus Torvalds". Linux Journal. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3655. Retrieved 15 November 2009. 
  29. ^ Torvalds, 2001, page 28
  30. ^ "Linux creator Linus Torvalds honored with Reed College's Vollum Award". Web.reed.edu. 2005-08-24. http://web.reed.edu/news_center/press_releases/2005-2006/082205LinuxCreator.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  31. ^ "Torvalds, Stallman, Simons Win 1998 Pioneer Awards". W2.eff.org. http://w2.eff.org/awards/pioneer/1998.php. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  32. ^ Talking to Torvalds, British Computer Society, September 2007.
  33. ^ Computer History Museum (18 June 2008). "The Computer History Museum Announces the 2008 Fellow Awards Recipients". Press release. http://www.computerhistory.org/press/2008-Fellows-Award-Announcement.html. Retrieved 22 October 2010. 
  34. ^ "Fellow Awards: Linus Torvalds". Computer History Museum. 21 October 2008. http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Linus,Torvalds/. Retrieved 22 October 2010. 
  35. ^ Chris von Eitzen (21 October 2010). "Linus Torvalds awarded 2010 C&C Prize". The H (Heinz Heise). http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linus-Torvalds-awarded-2010-C-C-Prize-1122542.html. Retrieved 22 October 2010. 
  36. ^ "The 2010 Time 100". Time. http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/century.html. Retrieved 2010-05-07. 
  37. ^ Lawrence Lessig (April 26, 2004). "Linus Torvalds: The Free-Software Champion". Time magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994026,00.html. Retrieved October 3, 2006. 
  38. ^ Gumbel, Peter (2006-11-13). "Linus Torvalds". Time.com. http://www.time.com/time/europe/hero2006/torvalds.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  39. ^ Nicholas Petreley. This year's Award for Industry Achievement goes to the creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds. InfoWorld. Jan 17, 2000. Page 82.
  40. ^ "The Best & Worst Managers Of The Year". Businessweek.com. 2005-01-10. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/05_02/B39150502manager.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  41. ^ By Business 2.0 Magazine staff (2006-06-22). "10 people who don't matter". Money.cnn.com. http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/21/technology/10dontmatter.biz2/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  42. ^ "Linus Torvalds named one of the 100 most influential inventors". The H. 4 February 2010. http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linus-Torvalds-named-one-of-the-100-most-influential-inventors-922622.html. Retrieved 15 February 2010. 
  43. ^ Stephenson, Neal (1999). "Old site". http://web.mac.com/nealstephenson/Neal_Stephensons_Site/Old_site.html. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 

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[edit] External links

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