Linus Torvalds

Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland, on 28 December 1969, the son of journalists Anna and Nils Torvalds,Torvalds the grandson of statistician Leo Törnqvist and of poet Ole Torvalds, and the great-grandson of journalist and soldier Toivo Karanko. His parents were campus radicals at the University of Helsinki in the 1960s. His family belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. He was named after Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize–winning American chemist, although in the book Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, he is quoted as saying, "I think I was named equally for Linus the Peanuts cartoon character", noting that this made him "half Nobel Prize–winning chemist and half blanket-carrying cartoon character".{{Cite book|last=Moody|first=Glyn|title=Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution|publisher=Perseus Books Group|year=2002|page=[https://archive.org/details/rebelcodeinside000mood/page/n351 336]|url=https://archive.org/details/rebelcodeinside000mood|url-access=registration|isbn=0-7382-0670-9}}

His interest in computers began with a VIC-20Torvalds, pp. 6–7 at the age of 11 in 1981. He started programming for it in BASIC, then later by directly accessing the 6502 CPU in machine code (he did not utilize assembly language).{{cite AV media | people = Linus Torvalds, David Rusling | date = 30 September 2016 | title = LAS16-500K3: Fireside Chat with David Rusling and Linus Torvalds | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuAebQvFnRI | access-date = 8 October 2016| location = 24:10 | publisher = Linaro

}} He then purchased a Sinclair QL, which he modified extensively, especially its operating system. "Because it was so hard to get software for it in Finland", he wrote his own assembler and editor "(in addition to Pac-Man graphics libraries)"{{cite web|url=https://opensource.googleblog.com/2010/09/geek-time-with-linus-torvalds.html |title=Geek Time with Linus Torvalds|first=Ellen|last=Ko|date=27 September 2010|access-date=8 November 2015}} for the QL, and a few games.Torvalds, pp. 41–46Torvalds, Linus: GMOVE. Program listing. In MikroBitti 11/1986, p. 63. He wrote a Pac-Man clone, Cool Man.

Torvalds attended the University of Helsinki from 1988 to 1996,Torvalds & Diamond 2001, p. 38, 94. graduating with a master's degree in computer science from the NODES research group.{{cite web |url=http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/group/nodes/ |title=NODES research group |publisher=Cs.helsinki.fi |date=16 October 2008 |access-date=13 March 2010 |archive-date=21 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221041803/http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/group/nodes/ |url-status=dead }} His academic career was interrupted after his first year of study when he joined the Finnish Navy Nyland Brigade in the summer of 1989, selecting the 11-month officer training program to fulfill the mandatory military service of Finland. He gained the rank of second lieutenant, with the role of an artillery observer.Torvalds, p. 29

In 1990, Torvalds resumed his university studies, and was exposed to Unix for the first time in the form of a DEC MicroVAX running ULTRIX.Torvalds, p. 53 Later, he bought computer science professor Andrew Tanenbaum's book Operating Systems: Design and Implementation, in which Tanenbaum describes MINIX, an educational stripped-down version of Unix.{{Cite web |date=2015-09-04 |title=5.08: features |url=http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/5.08/linux_pr.html |access-date=2025-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904031913/http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/5.08/linux_pr.html |archive-date=4 September 2015 }}

On 5 January 1991{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=https://www.abc.se/~m9339/linux/linuxdoc/linuxnews03a.html |title=The nightmare continues |work=Linux News |publisher=Abc.se |date=5 January 1991 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981205221105/https://www.abc.se/~m9339/linux/linuxdoc/linuxnews03a.html |access-date=13 March 2010|archive-date=5 December 1998 }} he purchased an Intel 80386-based IBM PC cloneTorvalds, p. 60 before receiving a copy of MINIX, which in turn enabled him to begin work on Linux.

{{Main|History of Linux}}

The first Linux prototypes were publicly released on the Internet in late 1991 from an FTP server at his university.{{cite newsgroup |title= What would you like to see most in minix? |last=Torvalds |first=Linus Benedict |date=25 August 1991 |newsgroup= comp.os.minix |message-id= 1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI |url= http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/b813d52cbc5a044b?dmode=source | quote=I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.}} Version 1.0 was released on 14 March 1994.{{cite news|url=https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v1.0/|title=Kernel 1.0 Source Code Release|access-date=27 October 2008}}

Torvalds first encountered the GNU Project in the autumn of 1991 when another Swedish-speaking computer science student, Lars Wirzenius, took him to the University of Technology to listen to free software guru Richard Stallman's speech. Because of the talk and pressure from other contributors, Torvalds would ultimately switch his original license (which forbade commercial use) to Stallman's GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2) for his Linux kernel.{{cite news |last1=Wirzenius |first1=Lars |title=The early days of Linux |url=https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/928581/841b747332791ac4/ |access-date=14 April 2023 |work=LWN.net}}

After a visit to Transmeta in late 1996,{{cite web|url=http://www.linux.org/info/linus.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040626044423/http://www.linux.org/info/linus.html |archive-date=26 June 2004 |title=Linux Online – Linus Torvalds Bio |publisher=Linux.org |access-date=13 March 2010}} Torvalds accepted a position at the company in California, where he worked from February 1997 to 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 Dunthorpe, Oregon{{cite news |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2005/06/linus_torvalds_incognito_inven.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140709153804/http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2005/06/linus_torvalds_incognito_inven.html|archive-date=9 July 2014 |title=Linus Torvalds, Incognito Inventor |first=Mike |last=Rogoway |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=7 June 2005 |access-date=8 July 2014 |quote=A sort of anti-celebrity, he is plainly ambivalent about fame and content to stay nestled at home in a tony cluster of million-dollar houses atop the densely forested hills of the Dunthorpe neighborhood.}} to be closer to the OSDL's headquarters in Beaverton.

From 1997 to 1999, he was involved in 86open, helping select the standard binary format for Linux and Unix. In 1999, he was named by the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the world's top 100 innovators under age 35.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=495 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20110329015921/http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?TRID=495 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 March 2011 |title=1999 Young Innovators Under 35: Linus Torvalds, 29 |magazine=Technology Review |year=1999 |access-date=14 August 2011 }}

In 1999, Red Hat and VA Linux, both leading developers of Linux-based software, presented Torvalds with stock options in gratitude for his creation. That year both companies went public and Torvalds's share value briefly shot up to about US$20 million.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.11/linus_pr.html|title=Leader of the Free World|last=Rivlin|first=Gary|access-date=14 June 2008|magazine=Wired}}{{cite web|url=http://www.linfo.org/linus.html|title=Linus Torvalds: A Very Brief and Completely Unauthorized Biography|work=The Linux Information Project|publisher=Bellevue Linux Users Group|date=24 January 2006|access-date=22 October 2010}}

His personal mascot is a penguin nicknamed Tux,{{cite web|url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0855.html|title=Re: Linux Logo prototype.|date=9 May 1996|first=Linus|last=Torvalds|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530044051/http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0855.html|archive-date=30 May 2012}} which has been widely adopted by the Linux community as the Linux kernel's mascot.{{cite web|url=http://www.linux.org/info/penguin.html |title=Why a Penguin? |access-date=19 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113035356/http://www.linux.org/info/penguin.html |archive-date=13 January 2007 }}. linux.org

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.{{YouTube|4XpnKHJAok8|Linus Torvalds at Google, on Git}}, 9:50–10:00 He was criticized for his use and alleged advocacy of the proprietary BitKeeper software for version control in the Linux kernel. He subsequently wrote a free-software replacement for it called Git.

In 2008, Torvalds stated that he used the Fedora Linux distribution because it had fairly good support for the PowerPC processor architecture, which he favored at the time.{{cite web|url=http://www.simple-talk.com/opinion/geek-of-the-week/linus-torvalds,-geek-of-the-week/|title=Linus Torvalds, Geek of the Week|date=17 July 2008|access-date=3 August 2009|last=Morris|first=Richard|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110045635/http://www.simple-talk.com/opinion/geek-of-the-week/linus-torvalds%2C-geek-of-the-week/|archive-date=10 January 2010}} He confirmed this in a 2012 interview.{{cite web | url=http://www.tuxradar.com/content/interview-linus-torvalds-linux-format-163 | title=Interview with Linus Torvalds from Linux Format 163 | date=29 November 2012 | website=TuxRadar | publisher=Linux Format | access-date=3 February 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119045740/http://www.tuxradar.com/content/interview-linus-torvalds-linux-format-163 | archive-date=19 January 2014 }} Torvalds abandoned GNOME for a while after the release of GNOME 3.0, saying, "The developers have apparently decided that it's 'too complicated' to actually do real work on your desktop, and have decided to make it really annoying to do". He then switched to Xfce.{{citation|author=Ricky|title=Linus Torvalds Ditches GNOME For Xfce|date=4 August 2011|url=https://digitizor.com/linus-torvalds-ditches-gnome-for-xfce/|work=Digitizor|access-date=8 November 2011|archive-date=11 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411094010/http://digitizor.com/2011/08/04/linus-torvalds-ditches-gnome-for-xfce/|url-status=live}} In 2013, Torvalds resumed using GNOME, noting that "they have extensions now that are still much too hard to find; but with extensions you can make your desktop look almost as good as it used to look two years ago".{{cite web|date=7 November 2012|title=Torvalds: I want to be nice, and curse less, but it's just not in me|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/07/passion_of_torvalds/|access-date=2 January 2013|publisher=The Register|archive-date=13 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151113202510/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/07/passion_of_torvalds/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Heath|first=Nick|title=Linus Torvalds switches back to Gnome 3.x desktop|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-switches-back-to-gnome-3-x-desktop/|website=ZDNet|access-date=22 April 2019|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203130301/https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-switches-back-to-gnome-3-x-desktop/|url-status=live}}

The Linux Foundation currently sponsors Torvalds so he can work full-time on improving Linux.{{cite web|url=http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about|title=About Us|publisher=The Linux Foundation|access-date=19 June 2013}}

In 2012, while giving a talk at Aalto University, Torvalds said "fuck you" and raised his middle finger after critiquing the company Nvidia, which specializes in GPU technology. He said Nvidia was, at the time, the single worst company he has dealt with in the development of the kernel. In the talk, he also discussed other elements of computing.{{Cite magazine |last=Garling |first=Caleb |title=Nvidia Responds to F-Bomb From Linus Torvalds |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/06/nvidia-linus-torvald/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}{{Cite web |last=Savov |first=Vlad |date=2012-06-17 |title=Linus Torvalds: 'fuck you, Nvidia' for not supporting Linux |url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/6/17/3092829/linus-torvalds-fuck-you-nvidia |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=The Verge |language=en}}

Torvalds is known for vocally disagreeing with other developers on the Linux kernel mailing list.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-16/the-creator-of-linux-on-the-future-without-him | work=Bloomberg | first=Ashlee | last=Vance | author-link=Ashlee Vance | title=The Creator of Linux on the Future Without Him | date=16 June 2015}} Calling himself a "really unpleasant person", he explained, "I'd like to be a nice person and curse less and encourage people to grow rather than telling them they are idiots. I'm sorry—I tried, it's just not in me."{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/19/got_bugs_got_anger_just_get_them_out_says_linus_torvalds/|title=Buggy? Angry? LET IT ALL OUT says Linus Torvalds|first=Simon|last=Sharwood|website=The Register|date=19 January 2015|access-date=8 November 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/07/passion_of_torvalds/|title=Torvalds: I want to be nice, and curse less, but it's just not in me|first=Gavin|last=Clarke|website=The Register|date=7 November 2012|access-date=8 November 2015}} His attitude, which he considers necessary for making his points clear, has drawn criticism from Intel programmer Sage Sharp and systemd developer Lennart Poettering, among others.{{cite web|url=http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/10/06/1837237/lennart-poettering-open-source-community-quite-a-sick-place-to-be-in|title=Lennart Poettering: Open Source Community "Quite A Sick Place To Be In"|publisher=Slashdot|date=6 October 2014|access-date=8 November 2015}}{{Failed verification|date=October 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/943950/linux-kernel-dev-sarah-sharp-quits-citing-brutal-communications-style.html|title=Linux kernel dev Sarah Sharp quits, citing 'brutal' communications style|first=Jon|last=Gold|publisher=Network World|date=5 October 2015|access-date=8 November 2015}}

On Sunday, 16 September 2018, the Linux kernel Code of Conflict was suddenly replaced by a new Code of Conduct based on the Contributor Covenant. Shortly thereafter, in the release notes for Linux 4.19-rc4, Torvalds apologized for his behavior, calling his personal attacks of the past "unprofessional and uncalled for" and announced a period of "time off" to "get some assistance on how to understand people's emotions and respond appropriately". It soon transpired that these events followed The New Yorker approaching Torvalds with a series of questions critical of his conduct.{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFy+Hv9O5citAawS+mVZO+ywCKd9NQ2wxUmGsz9ZJzqgJQ@mail.gmail.com/|title=Linux 4.19-rc4 released, an apology, and a maintainership note|date=16 September 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/765108/f1a80a6d6a6ff0f4/|title=Code, conflict, and conduct|first=Jonathan|last=Corbet|publisher=LWN.net|date=18 September 2018}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/after-years-of-abusive-e-mails-the-creator-of-linux-steps-aside|title=After Years of Abusive E-mails, the Creator of Linux Steps Aside|first=Noam|last=Cohen|magazine=The New Yorker|date=19 September 2018|location=New York City|issn=0028-792X}} Following the release of Linux 4.19 on 22 October 2018, Torvalds returned to maintaining the kernel.{{cite web|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/769111/|title=The 4.19 kernel is out|first=Jonathan|last=Corbet|publisher=LWN.net|date=22 October 2018}}

In 2024, Russian developers were excluded from the list of Linux kernel maintainers. Torvalds commented: "I'm Finnish. Did you think I'd be supporting Russian aggression?"{{cite web|url=https://lore.kernel.org/all/CAHk-=whNGNVnYHHSXUAsWds_MoZ-iEgRMQMxZZ0z-jY4uHT+Gg@mail.gmail.com/|title=Re: [PATCH] Revert "MAINTAINERS: Remove some entries due to various compliance requirements." - Linus Torvalds|work=Kernel Mailing Lists|access-date=28 October 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241026165021/https://lore.kernel.org/all/CAHk-=whNGNVnYHHSXUAsWds_MoZ-iEgRMQMxZZ0z-jY4uHT+Gg@mail.gmail.com/|archive-date=26 October 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linus-Torvalds-Russian-Devs|title=Linus Torvalds on Russian Developers|date=2024}}

{{Main|History of Linux#Naming}}

Initially, Torvalds wanted to call the kernel he developed Freax (a combination of "free", "freak", and the letter X to indicate that it was a Unix-like system), but his friend Ari Lemmke, who administered the FTP server where the kernel was first hosted, named Torvalds' directory linux.{{cite magazine|last=Moody|first=Glen|title=The Greatest OS That (Never) Was|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.08/linux.html?pg=3&topic=|magazine=Wired|access-date=22 July 2013}}

As of 2006, approximately 2% of the Linux kernel was written by Torvalds. Despite the thousands who have contributed to it, his percentage is still one of the largest. However, he said in 2012 that his own personal contribution is now mostly merging code written by others, with little programming.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-interview-with-millenium-technology-prize-finalist-linus-torvalds/ |title=An Interview With Linus Torvalds |publisher=Tech Crunch |date=19 April 2012 |access-date=22 April 2012}} He retains the highest authority to decide which new code is incorporated into the standard Linux kernel.{{cite web |last1=Ingo |first1=Henrik |title=Open Life: The Philosophy of Open Source (HTML book) {{!}} OpenLife.cc |url=https://www.openlife.cc/onlinebook/open-life-philosophy-open-source-html-book |website=www.openlife.cc |access-date=4 August 2020}}

Torvalds holds the Linux trademark{{citation |url=http://tess2.uspto.gov/ |title=Linux trademark |quote=IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: computer operating system software to facilitate computer use and operation. FIRST USE: 19940802. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19940802 |date=15 August 1994 |number=Serial number 74560867}} and monitors its use,{{cite web|url=http://slashdot.org/linux/00/01/19/0828245.shtml |title=Linus Explains Linux Trademark Issues |date=19 January 2000 |publisher=Slashdot.org |access-date=13 March 2010}} chiefly through the Linux Mark Institute.

{{anchor|Other apps}}

{{See also|Git#History}}

On 3 April 2005, Torvalds began development on Git, version control software that later became widely used. On 26 July 2005, he handed over Git's maintenance to Junio Hamano, a major project contributor.

{{anchor|Subsurface (software)}}

Subsurface is software for logging and planning scuba dives, which Torvalds began developing in late 2011. It is free and open-source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2. Dirk Hohndel became its head maintainer in late 2012.{{Cite web|title=Subsurface {{!}} An open source divelog|url=https://subsurface-divelog.org/|access-date=2021-12-17|website=subsurface-divelog.org}}{{Cite web|title=License page on the Github for Subsurface|url=https://github.com/subsurface/subsurface/blob/master/LICENSE|website=Github|date=19 April 2022}}

File:Linus Torvalds.jpeg

Linus Torvalds is married to Tove Torvalds (née Monni), a six-time Finnish national karate champion, whom he met in late 1993. He was running introductory computer laboratory exercises for students and instructed the course attendees to send him an e-mail as a test, to which Tove responded with an e-mail asking for a date. They were later married and have three daughters, two of whom were born in the United States.{{cite news|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/siliconforest/2010/09/linus_torvalds_already_an_oreg.html |title=Linus Torvalds, already an Oregonian, now a U.S. citizen|last=Rogoway|first=Mike|date=14 September 2010|access-date=16 September 2010|newspaper=The Oregonian}} The Linux kernel's reboot system call accepts their dates of birth (written in hexadecimal) as magic values.{{cite web |last=Torvalds |first=Linus |title=index : kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git |url=https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/include/uapi/linux/reboot.h|work=Linux kernel |access-date=30 May 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://man.flashnux.com/en/debian/6/6.0.1/man2/reboot.2.html |title=Debian's reboot(2) man page |access-date=16 August 2011}}

Torvalds has described himself as "completely a-religious—atheist", adding, "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 the United States it has become very politicized. When discussing the issue of church and state separation, he said, "Yeah, it's kind of ironic that in many European countries, there is actually a kind of legal binding between the state and the state religion."{{cite web|title=Interview: Linus Torvalds|last=Richardson|first=Marjorie|work=Linux Journal|url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3655|date=1 November 1999|access-date=2 April 2011}} In "Linus the Liberator", a story about the March LinuxWorld Conference, Torvalds says: "There are like two golden rules in life. One is 'Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.' For some reason, people associate this with Christianity. I'm not a Christian. I'm agnostic. The other rule is 'Be proud of what you do.{{'"}}{{cite web |first1=David | last1=Diamond |title=Linus the Liberator |url=http://www0.mercurycenter.com:80/svtech/news/special/linus/story2.htm |website=SiliconValley.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010127010200/http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/special/linus/story2.htm |archive-date=27 January 2001 |access-date=28 February 2020 |url-status=live }}

In 2004, Torvalds moved with his family from Silicon Valley to Portland, Oregon.{{cite web |title=Torvalds leaves Silicon Valley for Oregon |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/torvalds-leaves-silicon-valley-for-oregon/ |website=CNET |language=en}}

In 2010, Torvalds became a United States citizen and registered to vote in the United States. As of that year, he was unaffiliated with any U.S. political party, saying, "I have way too much personal pride to want to be associated with any of them, quite frankly."

Linus developed an interest in scuba diving in the early 2000s and has achieved numerous certifications, leading him to create the Subsurface project.{{cite web |title=Divelog.blue Interviews: Linus Torvalds |url=https://divelog.blue/linus_torvalds.html |website=Divelog.blue |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200219135736/https://divelog.blue/linus_torvalds.html |archive-date=19 Feb 2020}}

File:Linus-Torvalds_IEEE_Ibuka_Award_2018.jpg and IEEE President James A. Jefferies at ICCE 2018 on 12 January 2018 in Las Vegas]]

Time magazine has recognized Torvalds multiple times:

• In 2000, he was 17th in their Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century poll.{{Cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/century.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103164600/http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/century.html | archive-date=3 January 2007 | magazine=Time | title=The 2010 Time 100 | access-date=7 May 2010 | url-status=dead}}
• In 2004, he was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994026,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523120001/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994026,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 May 2007|title=Linus Torvalds: The Free-Software Champion|last=Lessig|first=Lawrence|author-link=Lawrence Lessig|date=26 April 2004|magazine=Time magazine|access-date=3 October 2006}}
• In 2006, the magazine's Europe edition named him one of the revolutionary heroes of the past 60 years.{{Cite magazine|last=Gumbel |first=Peter |url=http://www.time.com/time/europe/hero2006/torvalds.html |title=Linus Torvalds |magazine=Time |date=13 November 2006 |access-date=13 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930195123/http://www.time.com/time/europe/hero2006/torvalds.html |archive-date=30 September 2009 }}

InfoWorld presented him with the 2000 Award for Industry Achievement.{{cite news |author=Nicholas Petreley |title=This year's Award for Industry Achievement goes to the creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds |work=InfoWorld |date=17 January 2000 |page=82}} In 2005, Torvalds appeared as one of "the best managers" in a survey by BusinessWeek.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/05_02/B39150502manager.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050101011249/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/05_02/B39150502manager.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 January 2005 |title=The Best & Worst Managers of the Year |work=Bloomberg BusinessWeek |date=10 January 2005 |access-date=13 March 2010 }} In 2006, Business 2.0 magazine named him one of "10 people who don't matter" because the growth of Linux has shrunk Torvalds's individual impact.{{Cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/06/21/technology/10dontmatter.biz2/index.htm |title=10 people who don't matter |publisher=CNN |date=22 June 2006 |access-date=13 March 2010}}

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}}).{{cite web|title=Linus Torvalds named one of the 100 most influential inventors |work=The H |url=http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linus-Torvalds-named-one-of-the-100-most-influential-inventors-922622.html |date=4 February 2010 |access-date=15 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208151509/http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linus-Torvalds-named-one-of-the-100-most-influential-inventors-922622.html |archive-date=8 February 2010 }}

On 11 October 2017, the Linux company SUSE made a song titled "Linus Said" about the origin of the Linux kernel.{{Citation|last=SUSE|title=Linus Said – Music Parody (Momma Said)|date=11 October 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHNKTlz1lps| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/oHNKTlz1lps| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|access-date=22 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}

• {{Cite book | ref = Torvalds | last1 = Torvalds | first1 = Linus | last2 = Diamond | first2 = David | title = Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary | publisher = HarperCollins | year = 2001 | location = New York City, United States | isbn = 0-06-662072-4 | url = https://archive.org/details/justforfun00linu }}* {{Cite web |last1=Loney |first1=Matt |title=Exclusive: Linus Torvalds tells his story |publisher=ZDNet |date=10 April 2001 |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/exclusive-linus-torvalds-tells-his-story/ |access-date=9 August 2017 }}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/red-hats-off-to-a-low-maintenance-son/174579.article |last=Valsamidis |first=Tony |title=Red Hats off to a low maintenance son. |work=Times Higher Education Supplement |number=1575 |date=7 February 2003 |page=28 }}
• {{Cite magazine |last1=Wayner |first1=Peter |title=Just for Fun, by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond; Rebel Code, by Glyn Moody |magazine=Wired |date=1 May 2001 |url=https://www.wired.com/2001/05/just-for-fun-by-linus-torvalds-and-david-diamond-rebel-code-by-glyn-moody/ |access-date=9 August 2017 }}
• {{cite book |last=Himanen |first=Pekka |title=The Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the Information Age. |quote=Prologue: Linus Torvalds; Epilogue: Manuel Castells |publisher=Random House |year=2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/hackerethic00pekk |url-access=registration |isbn=951-0-25417-7}}
• Moody, Glyn: Rebel Code. Engl. the beginning of work: Rebel Code. Eng. Riikka Toivanen and Heikki Karjalainen. In January 2001. {{ISBN|951-31-2003-1}}.
• Nikkanen, Tuula: The Linux story. Satku, 2000. {{ISBN|951-762-990-7}}.

• Linus's law
• Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate
• List of pioneers in computer science

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1 = Himanen |first1 = Pekka |last2 = Torvalds |first2 = Linus |last3 = Castells |first3 = Manuel |title = The Hacker Ethic |publisher = Secker & Warburg |year = 2001 |isbn = 0-436-20550-5 }}

{{sisterlinks|d=Q34253|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|s=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|wikt=no}}

• {{BLF|8594|Linus Torvalds|author=Jukka Paakki |year=2011|URN=NBN:fi:sls-5464-1416928958070 }}
• [http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/ Linus' blog] at Blogger (last post in 2011)
• [https://www.allbusiness.com/linus-torvalds-and-his-five-entrepreneurial-lessons-4315737-1.html Linus Torvalds and His Five Entrepreneurial Lessons] at AllBusiness.com
• {{Cite journal|last1=Young |first1=Robert |date = March 1994|title= Interview with Linus, the Author of Linux |journal= Linux Journal |issue=#1 |url= https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2736 }}
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1123917 NPR Fresh Air episode]
• [https://www.cs.helsinki.fi/docs/NodesTenYearsEversion.pdf Ten years of NODES]
• [https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18419231 Linus Torvalds: Linux succeeded thanks to selfishness and trust]
• [https://itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/no-highs,-no-lows-linus-torvalds-on-25-years-of-linux.html No highs, no lows: Linus Torvalds on 25 years of Linux]

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