X-Nico

18 unusual facts about Linus Torvalds


9793 Torvalds

The asteroid is named after Linus Torvalds, a Finnish-American software engineer best known for initiating the development of the Linux kernel.

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface

Linus Torvalds, initial creator of the Linux kernel, in November 2003 described ACPI as "a complete design disaster in every way".

Binary blob

In the Linux kernel development community, Linus Torvalds has made strong statements on the issue of binary-only modules, asserting: "I refuse to even consider tying my hands over some binary-only module", and continuing: "I want people to know that when they use binary-only modules, it's THEIR problem".

China–Finland relations

Linux, the open source code first developed by Finnish software engineer Linus Torvalds, is playing a major role in the development of China’s IT sector – and in the country’s rapid industrial development as a whole.

Chromebook Pixel

One of the Pixel's most high-profile users is Linux inventor Linus Torvalds, who praised the screen but not the operating system, which he felt was better suited to slower hardware.

Cryptonomicon

The name is a thinly veiled reference to Linux, a kernel originally written by the Finnish native Linus Torvalds.

Dive log

Subsurface is open source dive log software made by Linus Torvalds.

FON

Linus: (named for Linus Torvalds, founder of the Linux project): has a Fonera router, shares Wi-Fi and gets free roaming at others' Fon Spots.

Free software movement

The two most prominent people attached to the movement, Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds, may be seen as representatives of the value based versus apolitical philosophies, as well as the GNU versus Linux coding styles.

GNU/Linux naming controversy

In 1991, the first version of the Linux kernel was released by Linus Torvalds.

Goto

Some programmers, such as Linux Kernel designer and coder Linus Torvalds or software engineer and book author Steve McConnell, also object to Dijkstra's point of view, stating that GOTOs can be a useful language feature, improving program speed, size and code clearness, but only when used in a sensible way by a comparably sensible programmer.

Just for Fun

Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary is a humorous autobiography of Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, co-written with David Diamond.

MINIX file system

When Linus Torvalds first started writing his Linux operating system kernel (1991), he was working on a machine running MINIX, so the initial releases based a lot of functionality on Minix subsystems.

Mr. Clean

The reason "make mrproper" is used instead of "make mrclean" is because Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, was familiar with the name "Mr. Proper" as this is the brand widely known in Europe.

NLUUG

Other claims to fame are the founding of the SANE Conferences organization and the fact that the NLUUG was the first organisation to have Linus Torvalds be a speaker on a conference outside Finland.

OpenSUSE

After he spent months discussing with developers on the project's bugzilla, Linux founder Linus Torvalds harshly criticized openSUSE and its security settings in a blog entry in early 2012.

Sinclair QL

Linus Torvalds has attributed his eventually inventing and developing the Linux kernel in part to his having owned a Sinclair QL in the 1980s.

Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate

The Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate was a debate between Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Linus Torvalds, regarding Linux and kernel architecture in general.


Linux Mark Institute

The Linux Mark Institute (LMI) is an organization which administers the "Linux" trademark on behalf of Linus Torvalds for computer software which includes the Linux kernel, computer hardware utilizing Linux-based software, and for services associated with the implementation and documentation of Linux-based products.

Linux user group

For example Linus Torvalds has occasionally talked to SVLUG or BALUG (which are close to his former home in Silicon Valley), and Hans Reiser (creator of ReiserFS) presented his early design plans at an SVLUG meeting.