Linus Benedict Torvalds

Biography

Linus Torvalds is a Finnish-American software engineer and architect of the Linux operating system. Torvalds started writing Linux, an open UNIX-like kernel, while working on his master’s degree while at the University of Helsinki. His freely shared work ignited a technical revolution that enabled anyone to have a web presence at very low cost and has made Linux the leading operating system for servers, supercomputers, netbooks, Internet networking equipment, embedded systems, and numerous personal devices. His collaborative development process in the Linux kernel is the key success of open source software. Linux is in billions of smartphones, powers most tablets, and underlies computer-enabled eyewear, thermostats, and kitchen appliances. Torvalds is also the original author of the “git” source control management system. To this day, he remains the technical lead developer of the Linux kernel project.

Torvalds is a fellow at Linux Foundation, Portland, OR, USA.