Linus Torvalds
Born 1969 · Age 56
Finnish software engineer; creator and long-time lead maintainer of the Linux kernel and creator of the Git distributed version control system. Recipient of multiple major technology awards.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Helsinki, Finland
Born to journalists Nils and Anna Torvalds; family is part of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.
First computer (Commodore VIC-20)
At about age 11 he began programming on his grandfather's Commodore VIC-20, starting in BASIC and later machine code.
Bought and modified a Sinclair QL
Purchased a Sinclair QL and heavily modified it — wrote assembler, editor, graphics libraries and games including a Pac‑Man clone.
Enrolled at the University of Helsinki
Began university studies in computer science (attended ca. 1988–1996; NODES research group).
Military service — Finnish Navy officer training
Took 11‑month officer training program in the Nyland Brigade to satisfy Finnish mandatory service; gained rank of second lieutenant as an artillery observer.
Exposed to Unix / MINIX
Resumed studies and encountered Unix (DEC MicroVAX running ULTRIX) and MINIX (via Andrew Tanenbaum's book), which influenced his later kernel work.
Switched Linux kernel license to GPLv2 (after Stallman talk)
Following exposure to Richard Stallman and pressure from contributors, Torvalds changed licensing of the kernel to the GNU GPLv2 so it would be free/open.
Purchased Intel 80386 PC clone
Bought an IBM‑compatible PC with an Intel 80386 CPU — the machine he used to start Linux development.
Announced new OS project on comp.os.minix (Linux announcement)
Posted to comp.os.minix announcing he was creating a (free) operating system for 386(486) AT clones and solicited feedback — the public launch of Linux development.
Completed Linux 0.01 (early prototype)
Completed a crude early kernel (version 0.01) after an intense period of development.
Released Linux 0.02 / public sources on FTP
Made sources available (version 0.02) on FTP (directory named linux by Ari Lemmke on ftp.funet.fi) enabling wide public development.
Met future spouse Tove Monni (late 1993)
Met Tove Monni when she responded to his course e‑mail as a student's test message; she was a Finnish karate champion. They later married and have three daughters.
Released Linux kernel 1.0
Official release of Linux kernel version 1.0 — a major milestone in the project's maturity and public adoption.
Birth of first daughter (approx.; coincided with Linux 2.0 period)
Sources remark that the arrival of his first daughter coincided with small disruptions in kernel development around the 2.0 release (late 1996). Exact date not specified.
Asteroid 9793 Torvalds named
The asteroid 9793 Torvalds was named in his honor (1996).
Visited Transmeta (first contact)
Visited the California start‑up Transmeta (microprocessor company), which later offered him a job.
Released Linux kernel 2.0 (SMP and multi‑CPU support)
Version 2.0 introduced support for multiple processor architectures and symmetric multiprocessing (SMP).
Moved to Silicon Valley (Santa Clara)
Relocated with family to Santa Clara/Silicon Valley to work at Transmeta.
Academic milestone noted (master's degree — cited as 1997 in some sources)
Sources differ on the exact year of completion; an Awards/Academic‑Honors summary cites a master's (Laudatur) in 1997 from University of Helsinki (NODES).
Began involvement with 86open (1997–1999)
Participated in the 86open effort to standardize a common binary file format for UNIX-like systems.
Married Tove Monni (approx.)
Sources indicate Torvalds and Tove married after meeting in 1993. Some biographical summaries list the couple as married in the late 1990s; exact public date not always given.
Joined Transmeta (California)
Accepted a position at Transmeta and relocated to Silicon Valley; arrangement allowed him to continue working on the Linux kernel.
Received EFF Pioneer Award
Recognized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for contributions to software and computing.
Linux installations estimated at ~7 million
By the late 1990s Linux had grown rapidly; some sources estimate ~7 million installations around 1999.
Honorary doctorate (Stockholm University) — cited in honors summary
Awards/biography entries indicate Torvalds received honorary doctor status at Stockholm University roughly two years after his master's (text source).
Received stock options from Red Hat and VA Linux; companies went public
Red Hat and VA Linux granted Torvalds stock options as thanks; when VA Linux and Red Hat went public in 1999 his share value briefly rose to about US$20 million.
Named to MIT Technology Review TR100 (Young Innovators under 35)
Recognized as one of the world's top 100 innovators under age 35.
Honorary doctorate from University of Helsinki (cited)
Sources indicate Torvalds received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater around 2000.
Received Lovelace Medal (British Computer Society)
Awarded by the British Computer Society for contributions to computing.
Shared Takeda Award for Social/Economic Well‑Being
Shared the Takeda Award with Richard Stallman and Ken Sakamura for social/economic contributions.
Published 'Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary'
Autobiographical book written with David Diamond, published by HarperCollins (2001).
Asteroid moon 'Linus' naming (2003 mention)
In 2003 the naming of an asteroid moon Linus was motivated in part to honor Torvalds (and others); media noted the homage to Linux/Torvalds.
Left Transmeta; joined Open Source Development Labs (OSDL)
Left Transmeta in June 2003 to work with OSDL (a consortium of companies supporting Linux kernel work); began focusing full‑time on the kernel.
Moved from Silicon Valley to Dunthorpe/Portland, Oregon
Relocated with his family in June 2004 to be closer to OSDL (Beaverton/Portland area).
BitKeeper controversy leads to creation of Git
Criticism for use of proprietary BitKeeper for kernel development precipitated the development of Git as a free alternative (April–July 2005).
Started development of Git
Began development of the distributed version control system Git as a free‑software replacement for BitKeeper (3 April 2005).
Handed Git maintenance to Junio Hamano
Transferred day-to-day maintenance of Git to Junio Hamano (26 July 2005), while remaining the project's creator.
Received the Vollum Award (Reed College)
Honored with the Vollum Award in August 2005.
OSDL merges with Free Standards Group to form The Linux Foundation
Open Source Development Labs merged with the Free Standards Group in January 2007 to become the Linux Foundation; Torvalds continued working under its sponsorship.
Public identification of Linux mascot 'Tux' widespread
Tux the penguin, Torvalds' personal mascot, became widely adopted as the Linux kernel/community mascot (historical adoption consolidated by mid‑2000s).
Inducted into the Computer History Museum Hall of Fellows
Recognized 'for the creation of the Linux kernel and the management of open source development' — inducted in 2008.
Became a United States citizen
Torvalds became a U.S. citizen and registered to vote; stated he was unaffiliated with any political party.
Released Subsurface (diving log software) / began Subsurface project late 2011
Started developing Subsurface (software for logging and planning scuba dives) in late 2011; first releases in 2011; free open‑source under GPLv2.
Subsurface: Dirk Hohndel becomes head maintainer (late 2012)
Dirk Hohndel took over head maintenance of the Subsurface project in late 2012 while Torvalds remained a developer/initiator.
Awarded the Millennium Technology Prize
Declared one of two winners (with Shinya Yamanaka) of the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize by Technology Academy Finland.
Inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame
One of the inaugural inductees into the Internet Hall of Fame (Innovators category) at ISOC's Global INET conference in Geneva.
Aalto University talk — criticized Nvidia publicly
During an Aalto University talk he publicly criticized Nvidia (said 'fuck you' and raised middle finger), citing poor support for Linux GPU development.
Resumed using GNOME (desktop preference change)
After previously switching to Xfce when GNOME 3.0 launched, Torvalds returned to using GNOME (noting extensions made it usable again).
Received IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award
Named the 2014 recipient of the IEEE Computer Society's Computer Pioneer Award for pioneering development of the Linux kernel.
Received IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award
Awarded the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award (12 January 2018) for leadership in the development and proliferation of Linux.
Public apology and temporary step‑aside from kernel leadership
Following community criticism of his communication style, Torvalds apologized (called past personal attacks 'unprofessional') and announced time off to get help with interpersonal communication; Linux adopted new Code of Conduct.
Returned to maintain Linux after release of 4.19
Returned to active kernel maintenance following release of Linux 4.19 (22 October 2018) and the conclusion of his time off.
Received Great Immigrants Award (Carnegie Corporation)
Honored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as part of their Great Immigrants program (2019).
Comment on exclusion of Russian developers from kernel maintainers list
Following exclusion of Russian developers from a maintainers list he commented, 'I'm Finnish. Did you think I'd be supporting Russian aggression?' (2024) — reflecting his public stance on geopolitically sensitive maintainer policies.
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